Steelers-Saints Blockbuster Rumors Picking Up Steam

The New Orleans Saints have one of the most intriguing wide receivers in the league in Chris Olave.

Olave is just 24 years old and racked up over 1,000 receiving in his first two seasons in the NFL before injuries derailed his 2024 campaign. The young playmaker's best season so far was in 2023 when he had 1,123 yards, 87 catches, and five touchdowns.

Earlier in the offseason, there was trade buzz around Olave, but nothing came to fruition. At the time, most of it was just baseless speculation. The Saints picked up the fifth-year option on his deal so now he's under team control for the 2025 and 2026 campaigns.

While this is the case, the rumors started to pick up steam once again on Friday morning specifically involving the Pittsburgh Steelers. PennLive.com Steelers beat reporter Nick Farabaugh weighed in on the noise.

"Chris Olave to the Pittsburgh Steelers trade rumors have circulated on Friday morning," Farabaugh said. "Adam Crowley of 93.7 the Fan said he heard from a source that would know the Steelers have some interest in Olave...Sources tell PennLive that the Steelers have called the Saints to check on Olave’s availability. The Steelers are interested in the 24-year-old, but sources describe that call as a due diligence call.

"In addition, sources tell PennLive that New Orleans does not seem interested in trading Olave. As of this morning, nothing is close to a trade or imminent. The Steelers would love to acquire a player of Olave’s talents, but the two sides must be interested in this. In addition, these due diligence calls to ‘check in’ happen all the time across the NFL."

This isn't shocking in any way at this moment. The Steelers recently traded away George Pickens so it's not surprising that they would be interested in adding a receiver. Olave is a talented guy who can be a game-changer when healthy.

The fact that Farabaugh noted that the Saints don't seem interested in a deal is in line with the rest of the offseason as well. New Orleans could've rebuilt if it wanted to this offseason but instead has pretty much ran back the roster from 2024. Why then follow up by trading their best receiver? LouisianaSports.net's Ross Jackson re-surfaced a quote from head coach Kellen Moore about Olave that also aligns with this idea that the Saints aren't open for business.

"Saints Kellen Moore on WR Chris Olave at the 2025 annual meetings: 'Chris is a phenomenal player. He has had a huge impact on this team. He’s going to have a huge impact (again).'"

The rumor mill heated up Friday morning, but there's nothing to make of it at this time.

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