The New Orleans Saints are looking to keep one of their star players on the team for the long run. Despite everything else crumbling around him, wide receiver Chris Olave continues to be one of the most underrated offensive threats in the league. The former Ohio State WR is now due for a contract extension.
The Saints will most likely extend Olave: he's too good not to be extended, after all. The real question is, how much will the Saints give him? There are initial reports that New Orleans isn't quite there yet on a $30 million per year contract for their wide receiver. However, insider Matthew Parra shed more insight on that report, crucially pointing out that a $30 million AAV contract for Olave is still on the cards.
“Only three receivers average more than $35 million per year, but nine make at least $30 million,” Parra writes. “The Saints haven’t entirely balked at the latter range, but don’t appear to have gotten there yet. And the guarantees are especially relevant to these talks. Despite Olave playing 16 games last year without suffering a brain injury, the wide receiver’s concussion history complicates the negotiation.”
The latter part of the quote is particularly telling. Olave has suffered multiple concussions throughout his career, including two in 2024 that forced him to miss more than half of the season and threatened to end his career. With the physical nature of the sport and the fact that head trauma is likely to happen, the Saints are understandably worried about handing a contract to a player with a lengthy concussion history.
Still, it's not hard to imagine the Saints relenting and giving Olave the contract he desires. The wide receivers who are earning $30 million or more in today's league are Brandon Aiyuk (out of the NFL at the moment), Lions' Amon-Ra St. Brown, Eagles' AJ Brown, Jets' Garrett Wilson, Steelers' DK Metcalf, Cowboys' CeeDee Lamb, Vikings' Justin Jefferson, Bengals' Ja'Marr Chase, and Seahawks' Jaxon-Smith Njigba. While Olave might not be in the plus-$35 million like the last three players listed, he's still comfortably in the same tier as the other six players.
Nearly playing the entire season in 2025, Olave recorded 100 catches for 1,163 yards and nine touchdowns.
