Craig Carton envisioned Greg Olsen as potential Boomer Esiason replacement on WFAN

Greg Olsen might be the best NFL analysts on TV, but there was a time where Craig Carton thought he could make a great WFAN co-host.

When Carton was paired with Boomer Esiason on WFAN all the way back in 2007, one of the biggest concerns was whether the former NFL MVP would be interested in a long run on morning radio. Nearly two decades later, Esiason has put those concerns to rest. But even 10 years into their partnership on WFAN, Carton figured it was Esiason who was most likely to leave the show first.

Now in afternoon drive and back for his third tenure with WFAN, Carton told co-host Chris McMonigle that he once had Greg Olsen lined up for a sort of test run should Esiason decide to leave the morning show.

“We were this close to having Greg Olsen as a host on the FAN” – Craig Carton 👀 pic.twitter.com/Jqv8YZk2Th

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) January 13, 2026

“There was a week where Boomer was gonna be off and I was not gonna be off at the same time. And Greg Olsen was going to fill in for Boomer for a week with the notion being if the big fella ever said, ‘You know what? I’m done,’ I had a replacement for him, and I thought he was gonna be great,” Carton recalled.

Olsen was still an active NFL player at the time. But even then, the NFL tight end was looked at as a potential future broadcaster, having worked as a guest analyst for Fox on several occasions. But shortly before they were set to co-host a week of shows together on WFAN, Carton received a call from Olsen requesting a rain check because his younger brother was in trouble at college.

In February 2017, Kevin Olsen, who was a quarterback for the University of North Carolina-Charlotte at the time, was arrested on rape charges. Kevin Olsen was found not guilty on all charges in 2018.

The rain check never happened for Greg Olsen on WFAN, with Carton ironically being the first to depart the station’s morning show.

“But we were this close to having Greg Olsen as a host on the FAN,” Carton added.

Nearly nine years later, Olsen has proved to be an exceptional broadcaster, Carton is back for his third tenure with WFAN, and Esiason is still humming along in morning drive alongside co-host Gregg Giannotti with no end in sight.