Greg Olsen is Kyle Allen’s new security blanket, and that’s good news for the Panthers
Somewhat lost in the snow and last-play dramatics Sunday at Lambeau Field was this: Greg Olsen looks ready to contribute heavily to this team’s final seven games.
Olsen had 98 yards on eight catches in Carolina’s loss to Green Bay, which was the most receptions he’s had since Carolina’s playoff loss to New Orleans in 2017. His level of comfort with Carolina’s new quarterback Kyle Allen continues to increase. And he’s relatively healthy — not a given for any NFL player this time of year, and certainly not for a 34-year-old tight end playing his 13th season.
This has been a relatively quiet year for Olsen, the Panthers’ oldest player. In some ways, that’s a good thing. He doesn’t want to create the kind of headlines he did in 2017 and 2018, when he missed 16 of 32 games due to breaking his right foot twice. But he also hasn’t been as productive as he was in 2014-2016, when he became the first NFL tight end ever to post three consecutive 1,000-yard receiving seasons.
Sunday, though, was vintage Olsen — and the Panthers (5-4) will need a lot more of that during a stretch run where they likely need to go 5-2 to make the playoffs.
The other four biggest contributors to Carolina’s passing game are Kyle Allen (age 23), Christian McCaffrey (23), Curtis Samuel (23) and DJ Moore (22, and the team’s leader in receptions). Olsen, along with third wideout Jarius Wright, are the vets who have seen it all and must explain it to the youngsters in real-time situations.
Olsen caught three passes for 32 yards on Carolina’s final drive of the game, moving the chains twice for first downs. He also would have been the primary target had Allen decided to throw the pass on the run-pass option the quarterback had on the game’s last play, from the Green Bay 2.
Olsen praised Allen to the hilt after the game, calling the young quarterback’s performance “pretty incredible” and “as impressive a quarterback display (as) I’ve ever seen.”
“When you’re down 14 and you lead two fourth-quarter touchdown drives in the snow, against the Green Bay Packers on the road, I think that speaks volumes,” he continued.
Olsen, Allen clicking
Of course, it was really only one touchdown drive, as McCaffrey was stopped inches short on the final play of the game after left guard Greg Van Roten missed his block. But you understand Olsen’s point. Long known as Cam Newton’s favorite security blanket, he now is morphing into one of Allen’s most reliable targets.
Said Allen after the game of Olsen: “He has a ton of experience through all these situations — not only for me, but for the entire offense. He understands what we need to do situationally. He’s been huge. ... He’s always helping out and saying things that only a veteran could say.”
Olsen’s big game allowed him to go over the 700-catch mark for his career. He is now fifth in the NFL in all-time receptions for a tight end with 701, trailing only Shannon Sharpe (815), Jason Witten (1,188), Tony Gonzalez (1,325) and Antonio Gates (1,459).
As Olsen has referred to off and on in the past, his NFL career is also in the fourth quarter. He said on the “All or Nothing” Amazon Prime series that aired this past summer: “Sometimes when you struggle as a team, everyone starts to look to the future. And a 34-year-old tight end with a broken foot — twice — may or may not be in the future.”
Olsen is under contract through the 2020 season. Unless his deal is altered, extended or he retires, he is scheduled to count $11.8 million against the salary cap in 2020. The Panthers would still be on the hook for $3.7 million in dead-cap money if they were to release him, according to figures from Spotrac.
When Olsen does leave the game, a second career as a TV analyst is a given. He already has called a couple of national TV games to get some reps, including during the Panthers’ bye week in October.
For now, though, Olsen looks like a part of the Panthers’ immediate future. With some of the best hands in Panthers history, he remains valuable. And what he told me this summer — about considering retirement after he broke his foot for the second time — now seems a long way off.
“That’s always your rash decision,” Olsen said then. “You’re exhausted. You’re tired of going through it. You’re tired of hurting. But I think once you make it through that initial pity party, you think you’ve worked too hard, you’ve done too much and you’ve played too long to go out like that.”
Panthers fans are certainly glad Olsen returned. And so is Kyle Allen.
This story was originally published November 12, 2019 at 1:31 PM.
