Panthers TE Olsen intends to play in 2019

Carolina Panthers tight end Greg Olsen told reporters on Tuesday that he intends to get his right foot healthy and continue playing in 2019. "My plan right now, I'm in every day doing my foot rehab, trying to get this thing finally back to where I was used to,'' Olsen said, per ESPN. "It seems like it's been a long time since it was. Yeah, that's what I'm preparing for, and that all starts with getting my foot right."

According to The Athletic, Olsen also said he wouldn't close the door on broadcasting opportunities, but his focus is on playing next season. Olsen, who turns 34 on March 11, auditioned for ESPN's Monday Night Football analyst job last offseason and served as a guest broadcaster for Fox for a game while he was injured in 2017.

Olsen has missed 16 games over the last two seasons while battling a troublesome right foot, including a torn plantar fascia in December that required surgery and ended his season. That injury came after Olsen missed four games with a Jones fracture early in 2018 -- opting not to have surgery -- and nine games in 2017 for a Jones fracture, which was surgically repaired, in the same foot. After three straight Pro Bowl seasons with 1,000-plus yards from 2014-16, Olsen totaled 44 catches for 482 yards and five scores over the last two years.

The Panthers signed Olsen to a two-year, $17.1 million extension last April, including an $11.1 million signing bonus. He will cost $7.1 million against the cap in 2019 and $11.8 million in 2020, though Carolina could trim the latter figure to a $3.7 million dead-money charge by releasing Olsen after next season. In 12 NFL seasons, including the last eight with the Panthers, Olsen has 666 receptions for 7,847 yards and 57 touchdowns in 174 games (148 starts).

--Field Level Media

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