The months of May and June tend to be reserved for two things in the NFL: Organized team activities ... and the awkwardness that emerges from them surrounding players that in search of a new contract.
The Saints are only experiencing one of those things this year, despite remaining in ongoing talks with star WR Chris Olave's camp over what is expected to be a lucrative, multi-year deal.
I’m committed to winning first of all and I feel like I’m a team player," Olave said, when asked if he'd considered staying away from the team as the deal got worked out. "The contract is a whole different side of the game. It’s the business side.
It was a similar tone struck by Saints GM Mickey Loomis earlier this month when asked about the situation. Olave is entering the 5th and final year of his rookie deal, a team option that is set to pay just shy of $15.5 million.
"Obviously we'd love to have something done sooner than [the start of the regular season], and I'm sure Chris would as well," Loomis said, "but we're not there yet."
Olave was a full participant during the offseason workout program and both days of OTA practices this week in Metairie. He's coming off his most consistent and productive as a pro, logging career highs in targets (156), catches (100), yards (1,163) and touchdowns (9). He appeared in 16 games before missing the season finale due to a blood clot discovered in his lung that the WR says has been completely resolved. The 2025 season was vitally important for Olave, who suffered multiple concussions and missed nine games the year before, openly admitting that he had briefly contemplated retirement.
The question for Olave's deal is less "if" than it is "when" and "for how much." The WR market has exploded in recent years, with each of the top 10 contracts at the position averaging $30 million or more per season. Two of Olave's former teammates at Ohio State in Garrett Wilson and Jaxson Smith-Njigba have already landed lucrative extensions in that top 10, with Smith-Njigba currently representing the ceiling at more than $42 million per season. The highest value WR contract handed out in Saints history went to Michael Thomas in 2019, a 5-year, $96.5M deal (19.2M per season) that at the top represented the top of the market.
Thomas' deal came after a brief holdout, something that Olave does not anticipate.
"I feel like we’re going to come down to that before training camp," Olave said. "I hope we do, so we don’t affect the chemistry and stuff going into training camp, but I think it’s going to get done soon.”
There's been no hints of any contract questions on the field, with Olave looking every bit of the star WR early in camp alongside a budding young QB and a suddenly loaded group of pass-catchers. The Saints drafted three WRs, including Jordyn Tyson at No. 7 overall. The also signed Noah Fant alongside the returning Juwan Johnson and drafted Georgia TE Oscar Delp in the third round.
Shough said he's been working with Olave throughout the offseason, including throwing sessions organized by the second-year QB.
“I think more than anything it just shows he wants to be here," Shough said about Olave's work this offseason. "He wants to work hard. He’s doing that every single day. He likes being around the guys and I think he’s just such a value to this team that everybody understands and I think that’s just part of the business side of it. That happens, but more than anything it shows how much he loves it here.”
