Chris Olave has earned his bag. The question is whether the New Orleans Saints will actually hand it over before training camp opens.
The Saints star wide receiver said this week that he expects a new contract to be done before camp begins, per Jeff Nowak of Audacy WWL. Olave is not holding out, but he is openly hoping the deal gets finished so it does not become a distraction in July.
“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.”
Saints general manager Mickey Loomis said the team also wants a deal done sooner rather than later but added that “we’re not there yet.” That is the kind of vague statement that means negotiations are happening but not at the dollar figure Olave wants.
Olave is in the fifth year of his rookie contract after the Saints picked up his option. He was selected No. 11 overall by New Orleans in 2022 out of Ohio State. He has put up three 1,000-yard seasons in four years, which is a borderline-elite pace for a young receiver.
The 2025 season was his career-best. Olave caught 100 passes on 156 targets for 1,163 yards and nine touchdowns. All four of those numbers were personal highs. He has gone from being a young building block to being a top-15 receiver in the league when healthy.
The “when healthy” part is where the negotiations get complicated. Olave missed eight games in 2024 due to a string of concussions and other injuries. He still produced 32 catches for 400 yards in his eight games, but the absence raised real questions for the front office about his long-term durability.
His name came up in trade rumors before the 2025 season. Head coach Kellen Moore publicly told fans not to worry about it then, which turned out to be correct. The Saints kept Olave, he played 17 games, and the offense looked completely different with him on the field. That is the case for paying him.
Now we get to the comp. Drake London just got a four-year, $141 million extension from the Atlanta Falcons. London is 24 years old, has the same production trajectory as Olave, and has one fewer 1,000-yard season on the resume. If London is worth $35 million per year, Olave is worth somewhere in that same neighborhood, maybe slightly lower because of the concussion history.
The Saints reality is they have to pay Olave. They have no internal replacement for what he does. Their other receiving options have not panned out, and the quarterback position is going to need any help it can get. Letting Olave walk in 2027 would be franchise malpractice.
The risk in the deal is the medical history. A receiver who has dealt with multiple concussions is a bet that does not always age well. If the Saints structure the contract with significant guarantees through year two and protections after that, they can hedge their exposure while paying Olave what he is worth right now.
Expect a deal somewhere in the $130 million to $145 million range over four years, with about $70 million guaranteed. That is the math the market is dictating. Both sides know it. Now it is just a matter of who is patient and who blinks first.
Training camp opens in late July. The clock is ticking.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
