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Restricting the access of Panthers tight end Greg Olsen to Vikings practice and production meetings may be good enough for FOX, but it’s not good enough for the Vikings.

PFT has learned that the Vikings prefer that Olsen simply not work the game, at all.

Olsen doesn’t think it’s an issue, even if the Vikings do.

“FOX called me a couple nights ago to kind of tell me some of the concerns of the Vikings,” Olsen told NFL Media. “I understood where they were coming from. I think once we made it clear to everyone involved that by no means did we ever intend to go to any practice, or being in a production meeting, interviewing the players, the coaches and getting behind the scenes info like what would traditionally happens in a production meeting, I think everyone kind of understood a little better. . . . Nothing I’m going to see from that booth a million miles in the sky is any different than what we would see on a game film. I’m going to watch that Rams-Vikings game a hundred times between now and then, getting ready to play them. Whether I see it live from the same angle or see it on film, I don’t think there’s really too much advantage that I or the Panthers would have.”

The Vikings disagree. And the problem arises from two very real dynamics.

First, Olsen’s booth partners, Kevin Burkhardt and Charles Davis, will have access to Vikings practice and production meetings. And even though no one is suggesting that they’ll deliberately share secrets with Olsen after the fact, the trio presumably will prepare for the broadcast. While preparing, things gleaned by Burkhardt and Davis that could be both relevant to the broadcast (and useful to a member of the Panthers three weeks later, as the Panthers prepare to play the Vikings) could be naturally revealed. So either they’ll share the information and indirectly help Olsen prepare to face the Vikings, or they’ll restrict the information they share with Olsen and potentially keep the broadcast from being as good as it could be.

Second, and as one source with extensive experience in advance scouting explained it to PFT, attending a game has significantly benefits beyond watching film. (Obviously, teams wouldn’t engage in advance scouting at all if they could just simply watch the film.) Being at the game allows Olsen to watch pregame warmups, to observe the sideline during the game, and to otherwise scan the confines for any useful information and it file away, especially with a sideline reporter constantly talking to the rest of the crew.

So, basically, FOX will be paying Olsen to serve as an enhanced advance scout for the Panthers.

Apart from the question of whether the Vikings’ concerns are valid is the fact that the Vikings have concerns that FOX isn’t, in the opinion of the Vikings, adequately addressing. Why not move Olsen to a different game? FOX has multiple games this weekend involving teams the Panthers won’t play this year, including Cardinals-Texans and Bills-Chargers. Alternatively, maybe FOX should admit that, after further review, it’s not a good idea to hire players to work games until they’re former players.

On Wednesday’s PFT Live, Chris Simms took it a step farther, arguing that as a matter of basic ethics Olsen should decline to assignment.

If Olsen doesn’t, it will be interesting to see whether the Vikings decline to let anyone from the broadcast team watch practice or attend production meetings — and whether this incident affects the relationship between the Vikings and the network that televises most of Minnesota’s games.