RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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See the full story · 2 sourcesLast season, the New Orleans Saints were reportedly fielding trade offers for Chris Olave. Now they've made him one of the NFL's highest paid wide receivers.
Olave, headed into the final year of his rookie contract, reportedly signed a four-year extension that will keep him as Tyler Shough's huckleberry through the foreseeable future. At $132 million and $90 million guaranteed, it wasn't able to reset the wideout market but pays him slightly more in annual average salary than former Ohio State teammate Garrett Wilson. The New York Jets gave Wilson a four-year, $130 million deal last offseason, making him the league's seventh-highest paid WR.
It's a big bet on a player who has emerged as an engine in the Saints offense when available. The Saints are locked in to $90 million for a receiver coming off his finest season. His 100 catches were seventh-best in the NFL en route to second-team All-Pro honors. But he also missed more than half the 2024 season due to concussion concerns and his 2.0 yards per route run (YPRR) were a career low . Will the Saints regret a great commitment for a player who may merely be good?
The New Orleans Saints extend WR Chris Olave for four years, $132 million ($90 million guaranteed)
This offseason has been predicated on bringing weapons into the fold as New Orleans figures out whether Shough's ability to exceed expectations as a rookie was an outlier or a sign of things to come. The Saints signed running back Travis Etienne for $12 million annually and used the eighth overall pick of the 2026 NFL Draft on Jordyn Tyson. Keeping Olave fits with that philosophy.
At the same time, it's fair to wonder if Olave can keep up his 2025 pace when he's not the surefire focus of the offense. Last year's New Orleans offense couldn't run the ball ( 31st in rushing expected points added ). Only two other players on the team had more than 40 targets and one, Rashid Shaheed, was traded mid-season. His target share of just under 30 percent was a career high and his 8.7 air yards per catch were a career low, leading to modest impacts despite his prolific nature.
83 of his 156 targets came within nine yards of the line of scrimmage and he wasn't able to do much with them; his EPA on such targets was -4.0; 58th best among 77 qualified wideouts . He was responsible for -43 yards after catch over expected (YACOE), which is partially attributable to a Tyler Lockett trait of getting down to avoid injury and partially because, as good as he's been, he's been generally a little below average after the catch .
For the Saints to get the most out of this contract, they'll need to change how Olave is used. While he only caught nine of 28 deep targets, he still managed positive EPA and YACOE numbers. Tyson has a diverse route tree, and can thrive in the intermediate range with an array of hitches and breaking routes. This could free up Olave for longer throws and, importantly, fewer double-teams.
Head coach Kellen Moore has done a great job adapting through his first season-plus at the helm. He can make these pieces fit together in order to bring the best out of Shough. If the Olave we see is the same guy who gets stuck as a short-range security blanket, this deal probably won't age well. But if he gets back to the deeper routes we saw earlier in his career, this is money well spent for a team cultivating playmakers in hopes of lifting an inexpensive quarterback on a rookie contract.
Grade : B-
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Grading Chris Olave's $132 million extension to stay with the Saints
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