Saints-Chris Olave Extension Rumors Just Got More Interesting

The New Orleans Saints have a clear-cut No. 1 receiver on their roster right now in Chris Olave.

Olave entered the 2025 season with injury question marks after only playing in eight games in 2024 due to concussions. Fortunately, Olave was able to stay healthy in 2025 and he put up his best season yet. Olave racked up 100 catches, 1,163 yards and nine touchdowns and is just 25 years old. The Saints picked up the fifth-year option on his deal for the 2026 season, but they should be thinking about more. The idea of a potential contract extension has been a talking point for the franchise for a few months at this point. With just a few days to go until free agency kicks off around the league, ESPN's Katherine Terrell had a brief update, noting that the two sides are negotiating on Wednesday.

"The Saints have more flexibility with their salary cap situation in 2026 and won't have to do much work to get under the cap ceiling of $301.2 million," Terrell wrote. "In a worst-case scenario where the Saints have four free agent contracts void (that would add $47.7 million in dead money to the cap), they would still only need to free up about $22 million to get cap compliant, something that can be accomplished with a few restructures.

Will the Saints give Chris Olave a new deal?

Dec 21, 2025; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; New Orleans Saints wide receiver Chris Olave (12) waves to fans after scoring a touchdown against New York Jets cornerback Brandon Stephens (21) during the second half at Caesars Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-Imagn Images | Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

"New Orleans will be spending money in free agency in some way, it's just unclear whether that means adding one top free agent or several middle-tier free agents, as the team has done in recent years. The Saints seem more likely to look at offensive line options than make a splash at wide receiver as they continue to negotiate with wideout Chris Olave on a new deal."

For Olave, things have gone quiet publicly on the extension front since shortly after the 2025 season ended. Olave did mention that the stability of the franchise makes him want a new deal even more.

"Man, it helps a lot," Olave said. "I feel like the first couple of years it was hard to be able to say that I was stable. It helps a lot with the bigger picture. It makes me want to stay here even more. I know what's going to be here with Kellen. Tyler's, like I said, a great quarterback, and that's probably the main two things you need as a receiver. So, it makes me want to get that contract done even more and hopefully it happens soon."

If the Saints can get a deal done, it would be an easy win for the franchise.