NFL Mock Trade: Saints Could Trade Chris Olave to Eye a New Franchise Quarterback
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As the NFL nears mid-season, trade rumors start to spread like wildfire. We can go on for days of all the players up for discussion, but today we are going to talk about Chris Olave. He is in year four of his rookie deal and will certainly be asking for big money this offseason. If the Saints are unwilling to pay it, another team may. One prime candidate may be the New York Giants.
Fantasy Football Impact
The Saints have a promising offensive coach in Kellen Moore, but they do lack skill at the moment. That has really capped the ceiling on Olave. If he goes anywhere else, he may see a value upgrade. In New York, he would become the WR1 for the remainder of the season. The Giants offense does have more upside than the Saints, but this move would be a lateral one of the value of Chris Olave.
As for the Saints, without Olave, everyone takes a bit of a hit. By losing a key player, they get worse by default. If anyone benefits, it would be Rashid Shaheed as the new WR1. However, he thrives as a big-play option. It helps to have attention taken away. It would be interesting to see him work alone as a WR1, but may not be seamless.
The Giants would see Wan'Dale Robinson return back to the value he had with Nabers in the lineup. All goes back to pre-Nabers injury. When Nabers is back in 2026, and if Olave got resigned — all extremely hypothetical —Nabers could see a target downgrade, but efficiency upgrade. Olave probably does not downgrade from his current Saints value as this would be a better offense.
As for Jalin Hyatt, he has been a notable vertical threat for the Giants. He has not come near what they Giants expected him to be in the draft, but he is a big play threat that can be leveraged within some sporadic gadget plays. Kellen Moore is a smart mind so one man's trash could be another man's treasure.
Mock Trade Details:
Giants Receive: Chris Olave
Saints Receive: 1st Round Pick, Jalin Hyatt
Why the Giants Say Yes
The Giants are without Nabers and so Olave gives them a boost for now. More importantly, they solidify a receiving core for Dart in the future. A Nabers-Olave duo would be lethal. The Giants would have to verbally commit to signing Olave to an extension, but if they made this deal, that would be the gameplan. Daboll needs this offense to step up in order to not get fired in three months, or less. The same goes for Joe Schoen.
Why the Saints Say Yes
The Saints have some work to do on their roster. Olave has a fifth year club option that was picked up, but the Saints could leverage Olave for future assets. Given his lack of a big contract, Olave is an attractive option where the team has negotiation leverage.
In this scenario, the Saints trade off a player that may not even be a long-term option with the team. For that, they get a high draft pick to help build this team up. As a nice little bonus, they get a high-upside player in Jalin Hyatt to add to this lacking depth chart. His current contract is less than $1 Million, so it is a very low-risk addition.
For all we know, Olave could be flipped into a new franchise quarterback. Someone may pay that price, and the Giants could be the ones.
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Thomas Carelli is a sportswriter based on Northern New Jersey. He is a massive New York Jets and Mets fan, but that is not where is sports fandom stops. He loves to watch and play golf, all things football, baseball, and much more. If he can watch it, he will. Thomas graduated from William Paterson University in 2018 with a Bachelor's Degree in Sport Management. He spent 4 years working at a local golf course, volunteered past PGA events, and spent some part-time experience with the New York Jets events team. His passions for sport runs deep and his articles show for it.