Greg Olsen is getting paid.
The Carolina Panthers tight end agreed to terms on a two-year extension worth $17.1 million total, with a potential max value of $20.1 million, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported, per a source informed of the deal. The team later confirmed the extension.
ESPN first reported the news.
Olsen was set to enter the final year of his contract. The 33-year-old will make $6.5 million in 2018 before the extension kicks in for 2019 and 2020.
"I've made it clear over the past year that I want to keep playing and I want to play here," Olsen said in a statement. "Both sides were very fair and worked on it in a timely manner. I feel really good about what we were able to get done both for ourselves and the team."
The sure-handed tight end has been Cam Newton's go-to target, compiling three straight 1,000-plus-yard seasons from 2014-2016. An injured foot wiped out most of Olsen's 2017 campaign and clearly hindered him when he was on the field. The 12th-year pro played in just seven games, earned 17 receptions for 191 yards and one TD last year.
Now healthy heading into the 2018 season, Olsen will be the key member of a remade Panthers offense under new offensive coordinator Norv Turner.
Olsen reportedly flirted with retiring and immediately becoming a TV analyst -- perhaps as the successor to Jon Gruden on Monday Night Football. The tight end, however, has been consistent about his plans to continue playing in Carolina. The extension adds ink to that insistence.
