Tom Brady has already signed up to join FOX Sports when his playing career is over. However, executives apparently see an opening to get Brady on the air even before he officially retires.
FOX wants Brady to take part in its Super Bowl LVII coverage in February if the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are not playing in the game, according to Michael McCarthy of Front Office Sports. FOX executives have already begun drawing up contingency plans in order to involve Brady, including a potential three-man booth alongside Kevin Burkhardt and Greg Olsen. However, Brady serving as a pregame analyst with FOX’s usual studio analysts is considered a more likely outcome.
When FOX agreed to its deal with Brady, they probably expected there to be a decent chance he would be playing in the game itself. However, the Buccaneers have started 3-4, raising the possibility that Brady’s team does not even make it to the postseason.
Throwing Brady in at the deep end with Burkhardt and Olsen in the Super Bowl would not be a good decision on FOX’s part, as it would put all three of them in the awkward spot of adjusting to each other on the fly. Plus, Brady has never done a game live before, much less a Super Bowl. Then again, for the kind of money he’d be making, maybe it doesn’t matter.
