Greg Olsen is in a strange position. He is a bona fide No. 1 NFL television commentator, a proven force after a fantastic 2023 season in which he consistently provided second-level analysis, including the most important game an NFL commentator can commentate on – the Super Bowl.

But because Fox Corp. has hired Tom Brady and it would be unthinkable from a marketing perspective not to include the most famous NFL player of all time on its top commentary team – especially when he has a 10-year, $375 million contract – Olsen has to commentate on Fox’s No. 2 team this season, along with Joe Davis and Pam Oliver.

Olsen is well aware of the calculation that lies ahead of him. He approached the 2023 season with the overarching goal of making Fox Sports’ decision to replace him on the No. 1 team as difficult as possible for CEO Eric Shanks and executive producer Brad Zager. He accomplished that with his performance. But the reality is that there was no decision either. It was Brady’s place if Brady came, and Brady is here.

You may not have seen Sunday’s game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Atlanta Falcons, but those who did saw that Olsen is starting the 2024 season where he left off. His greatest strength as an analyst is that he sees things off the ball. That’s in part because he’s seen the game from the tight end’s perspective across 14 NFL seasons.

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“The quarterbacks drive the league and the game, but so much happens on the field,” Olsen said last week. “There are a lot of equally interesting and exciting things happening off the ball, and frankly, without those things, there would be no throw, no catch, no run. I try to design our broadcast so that when you watch it, you’ll learn a little bit about the offensive line, a little bit about coverage pressure, a little bit about pass protection, but you’ll still follow the ball and the quarterback because that’s critical to the game and the enjoyment of it.

“When people walk away from a game I’m at, I hope their main impression is that this guy loves football. This guy loves everything about it, the good, the bad, the ugly, the losses, the close fourth quarters and everything in between. I don’t think people tune in because of the broadcast crews. I think the broadcast crews make the viewing experience better, but I don’t think they necessarily drive the experience. Still, I hope people walk away from our games and think, ‘I heard two or three things in this game today that nobody has ever explained to me.'”

Sunday’s broadcast in Atlanta went smoothly, in part because Olsen’s new production team is also his old team. He and Kevin Burkhardt worked with producer Pete Macheska and director Artie Kempner, who produce the No. 2 team at Fox, during the 2021 season – when Joe Buck and Troy Aikman were still in Fox’s No. 1 booth. Olsen and Davis previously commentated games together when Burkhardt was in charge of baseball in October.

“He doesn’t just see things from an offensive or defensive perspective — he can speak from the coordinators’ perspective or knowledgeably as if he were a manager,” Davis said of Olsen this week. “I don’t want to overuse the word brilliant, but he has as broad a perspective as I can imagine. I’m sure No. 1 jobs will come up eventually, and I’m sure he would be at the top of the list. … For selfish reasons, and I know for selfish reasons for Fox, I hope to be his partner for as long as I can.”

Olsen says he has no animosity toward Brady and doesn’t view him as a rival on television. He said he got to know Brady a little during the offseason and wishes him success.

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“I’ve really enjoyed getting to know Tom personally and professionally and just giving him different thoughts and perspectives,” Olsen said. “Tom and I have always had more of a professional relationship. We’d see each other before and after games. It was very superficial, mostly about happiness and respect. But over the last six or seven months, we’ve had a lot more personal conversations and spent time together. I told him, ‘Dude, I’m here to help however I can. I haven’t been doing this for 20 years, but I understand the transition you’re going through better than anyone in the business because it’s the same transition I went through.’ You go straight from playing to commentating on the Super Bowl and the top games of the week. I think I have a perspective he can rely on.

“I want him to do well. I want him to succeed. I want him to feel like I’m a good teammate. It’s no different than if he walked into the locker room when I was a player and we happened to play the same position. My success is not dependent on Tom. Tom being really good doesn’t make me any less good, and Tom being bad doesn’t make me any better. Fox has two top teams, and that’s how I see it. But I’ve talked to Joe about it: I want people to think Joe and I are the best team on TV. It doesn’t matter that we’re the B team.”

Brady’s debut broadcast was mixed at best, but barring something unforeseen, the Super Bowl LIX booth on Feb. 9 belongs to Brady and Burkhardt. Fox Sports should, however, come up with a creative way to make Olsen a major part of its Super Bowl coverage. My suggestion would be to have Olsen on the field and occasionally use him as a unique second analyst on some plays. That would be a creative use of his talent.

“I would love to be at the Super Bowl, but no one has approached me about it yet,” Olsen said. “I don’t know if that’s planned or not. But I would love to be there. There are a lot of different ways to incorporate different talent into a show, but we haven’t had any discussions yet.”

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(Photo of Greg Olsen at the Miami-Florida college football game last month: James Gilbert / Getty Images)