Tom Brady still set to replace Greg Olsen at Fox?

There's yet another sign that retired quarterback Tom Brady still plans to replace Greg Olsen as Fox's lead NFL analyst beginning next season. 

Michael McCarthy of Front Office Sports reported on Sunday that "it appears that it’s all systems go for the 46-year-old Brady to join" lead play-by-play announcer Kevin Burkhardt in the Fox booth for the start of the 2024 campaign. 

"Brady has visited the Fox studios lot in Los Angeles to prepare for his TV transition," McCarthy explained. "He was spotted at dinner with (Fox sideline reporter Erin Andrews) and Fox execs in November. (Fox’s NFL brain trust includes chief executive officer Eric Shanks, president of national networks Mark Silverman, and president of production Brad Zager.)" 

Brady confirmed after his second playing retirement last February that he was taking a "gap year" away from the NFL before he officially began working for Fox via a 10-year contract reportedly worth $375M. The seven-time Super Bowl champion spent portions of this past regular season studying broadcasts and receiving coaching/advice from individuals such as New England Patriots radio voice Scott Zolak and Joe Buck of ESPN. 

"Tom is approaching this like he approached the game," a source told McCarthy. "From what I gather, he isn’t just cruising on his name."

As Reice Shipley pointed out for Awful Announcing, though, Olsen became a fan-favorite working alongside Burkhardt. It's been suggested that Fox could have Burkhardt, Olsen and Brady share a booth for at least one season, and McCarthy noted that Olsen is willing to accept a pay cut that would see his salary drop to $3M from $10M assuming he's demoted to the No. 2 game analyst role. 

"For now, Olsen’s stuck," McCarthy wrote. "He can shift to an NFL studio job, but they pay far less than top game analyst gigs. Still, a $3M salary is more than is paid to most No. 2 game analysts, for whom the going rate is roughly $1M per year." 

McCarthy also mentioned that no major NFL media partner is currently scheduled to have a lead analyst vacancy following Super Bowl LVIII. Unless Brady unexpectedly changes his mind about working later this year, it seems Olsen will have to make his chair open for the future Hall of Famer regardless of what fans think about the situation.