Greg Olsen needs to go win a Super Bowl, not play for Ron Rivera in Washington

Greg Olsen and the Carolina Panthers deciding to part ways — which they did on Thursday — is far from the wholesale shocker that Luke Kuechly’s retirement was.

Olsen had been dropping hints to this effect for the last couple of months. His tears during a video tribute to the tight end during Carolina’s final home game Dec. 29th offered another big clue. But Olsen’s departure (and it’s clearly not a retirement) does point out once again how new the Panthers are going to look in 2020 — and exactly how deep into this rebuilding process they really are.

Olsen said in a statement released by the Panthers Thursday that “it is best we go in different directions for now,” and that’s likely true. Panthers head coach Matt Rhule and general manager Marty Hurney don’t need an expensive, 34-year-old tight end — even one with Olsen’s incredible hands. They might want him in a perfect world, but they don’t need him.

And Olsen doesn’t need the pain of a team that is tearing itself down to the foundation, with the ultimate idea being that the Panthers will be good again by the time Olsen has retired and is hanging out with his wife and three kids.

But No. 88 will be deeply missed — particularly on third down, but also because of his honesty, his community work and his leadership. He and his family aren’t leaving Charlotte, so we’ll still get the community work and the honesty from the Olsen family. But it’s never going to be quite the same. Olsen made both the Panthers and Charlotte a better place, and he did so with relentless consistency for nine years.

In listening to Olsen talk for all those years, I’ve always gotten the idea that he thinks there’s more football left in him, but that the Super Bowl ring he has never earned is the one thing that really gnaws at him.

That’s why I think Olsen will play again in 2020, but not for Washington and Ron Rivera. That’s a possibility, of course, but Washington went 3-13 in 2019, and I would think Olsen will choose a team that’s got a real shot at winning a title right away. He has hall-of-fame credentials already, but a Super Bowl ring would make that an even surer thing.

Olsen released a lengthy statement Thursday praising the team, its fans and its family.

“On the field, I will always cherish the 9 seasons we shared together,” Olsen said in the statement. He also said he has “not closed the door on any potential career options.”

Olsen’s agent, Drew Rosenhaus, told ESPN’s Adam Schefter that Olsen “is still interested in playing and I will be in communication with other teams after the Super Bowl.” Olsen will likely become a high-profile TV broadcaster when his NFL career does end; he has already made several successful forays in that area. He will be on TV during Super Bowl Sunday, working as a studio analyst for Fox Sports.

Olsen is technically still under contract with the Panthers for the 2020 season, so he will eventually have to be released or traded.

Most likely he will be released in March, as few NFL teams want to pick up a contract that requires them to pay $11.8 million in 2020 to a tight end who has suffered through two serious foot injuries in recent years. By cutting him, the Panthers would save $8.1 million in salary-cap space.

I’ve also long thought that quarterback Cam Newton won’t play for the Panthers in 2020, either — although he’s under contract for the season as well.

That decision still looms over the Panthers’ franchise, which already has a new coach and will be without two of its most prominent players (Kuechly and Olsen) in 2020. If it all feels like starting over, Panthers fans, that’s because in large part it is.