Saints Star Open To New Contract With New Orleans

What a difference a few months make.

Last offseason, the New Orleans Saints were in a state of flux. The Saints were looking for a new head coach, it wasn't clear what was going on with Derek Carr, and the team was in salary cap purgatory. Carr retired seemingly out of the blue, which helped the team's salary cap position, and the team turned to Kellen Moore as the team's head coach. New Orleans then went on to pull off a big-time draft and landed Kelvin Banks Jr., Tyler Shough, Jonas Sanker, Danny Stutsman, Quincy Riley, and Devin Neal, among others.

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Despite all of this, the vibes were low to kick off the season. The Saints went 1-7 to begin the season before turning to Shough at quarterback. Around that time, the Saints sold ahead of the trade deadline. Plus, the lingering questions for the team were whether they would need to blow the roster up and draft another new quarterback, and maybe get a new head coach.

The Saints receiver made his feelings clear

New Orleans Saints wide receiver Chris Olave (12) runs in a touchdown in front of Tennessee Titans cornerback Kemon Hall (40) during the third quarter at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tenn., Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025. | Andrew Nelles / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The second half of the season was the exact opposite and now the team is riding high with Shough and Moore. This isn't an exaggeration by any means. In fact, star receiver Chris Olave spoke about the newfound stability of the franchise, thanks to Shough and Moore, and how it's one of the biggest reasons he wants to stick around with the franchise and get an extension done, as seen in a clip shared to X by NewOrleans.Football.

"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."

"It makes me want to stay here even more."#Saints WR Chris Olave on entering the offseason with stability in QB Tyler Shough and play caller Kellen Moore pic.twitter.com/j2UEjj6b08
— NOF (@nofnetwork) January 5, 2026

Olave had the best season of his career in 2025. He played in 16 games and logged 100 catches, 1,163 yards, and nine touchdowns. All three were new career highs for Olave, who missed the season finale after a blood clot was discovered in his lungs.

This is yet another example how the vibe has shifted with the franchise. There was a time early on in the season when Olave was one of the most talked-about trade candidates in football. Now, hopefully he isn't going anywhere anytime soon.

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