Insider: Fox doesn't want Tom Brady to fail during Super Bowl LVII coverage

It appears recently re-retired quarterback Tom Brady won't be making an immediate jump to the Fox Sports broadcast booth. 

TMZ Sports reported Wednesday that Brady "is not part" of Fox's plans for its Super Bowl LVII coverage over the weekend of Feb. 11-12. TMZ added that Fox "had no idea Brady was going to call it a career" via a video message shared on social media Wednesday morning. 

Brady ended a short-lived retirement last March and then agreed to a 10-year deal reportedly worth $375 million to eventually become Fox's lead NFL analyst. It was first speculated back in May that Brady could serve as either a commentator or in-studio analyst for Fox's Super Bowl LVII coverage if the Tampa Bay Buccaneers weren't playing in the title game, but current Fox No. 1 analyst Greg Olsen revealed in December that the subject of Brady working for the network on Feb. 12 had "not been brought up" as of that time. 

Sean Keeley of Awful Announcing, Jenna Lemoncelli of the New York Post, and others have recently mentioned that Olsen has received high praise from fans and others in the football community for his work calling contests alongside play-by-play announcer Kevin Burkhardt this season. 

"All indications are that network executives will not put him in the booth," New York Post sports media columnist Andrew Marchand explained on Wednesday about Brady possibly working the Super Bowl. "They know it would be stupid and unwise with their $375 million investment to try a three-man setup for the first time with 100 million people watching. If Brady was unsteady, he would immediately create more questions as to why Fox is replacing Olsen with him. And that investment might quickly look poor."

Marchand suggested Brady could be part of Fox's Super Bowl LVII pre-game coverage in an attempt to attract attention from casual viewers who routinely ignore such shows each year. 

Brady hasn't yet publicly confirmed he plans to begin working for Fox during preparations for the 2023 NFL season. Marchand wrote that the seven-time Super Bowl champion "could go for a gap year" and allow the network to keep Olsen happy through at least next winter.

ESPN's Joe Buck raised eyebrows this past fall when he said that "there are people at Fox who would say there’s a chance (Brady) doesn’t call a game there." However, Brady sounded committed to joining the network as soon as later this year while speaking about his upcoming career on Monday's edition of his "Let's Go!" SiriusXM show and podcast.