Canal Street Chronicles
Fourth-year New Orleans Saints wide receiver Chris Olave is coming off a career season, logging 100 receptions for 1,163 yards and 9 touchdowns. Olave started the year off slowly. While getting plenty of targets, he failed to reach 100 receiving yards in a game until Week 10, and the big plays were missing from his game.
It wasn’t until the New Orleans Saints decided to move on from standout wide receiver Rashid Shaheed and start rookie quarterback Tyler Shough that we saw Olave become the receiver we knew him to be. Since Week 10, the former first-round pick has brought in 45 receptions for 603 yards and 7 touchdowns, averaging 86.14 yards and nearly a touchdown per game in that span.
Olave and Shough built a connection, and as they played more together, their chemistry grew. As Olave played his final three games of the season, he and his rookie quarterback were on fire. Shough and Olave connected for 352 yards and 4 touchdowns over Olave’s last three games of the season.
Now, for the Saints, it’s time to pay their playmaker. Olave is entering his final year under contract for New Orleans after they picked up his fifth-year option, and with the trade of Rashid Shaheed, it’s clear the Saints are committing to the 2022 first-round pick. Two first-round wideouts from Olave’s rookie class have already received extensions, with Garrett Wilson agreeing to a four-year $130 million contract with the New York Jets and Jameson Williams getting a three-year $83 million extension with the Detroit Lions.
Olave and division rival Drake London are now the lone receivers from the first round of the 2022 draft class to not receive an extension while with the team they were drafted by. So what would an extension for Olave look like?
It’s important to focus on what Olave has done so far with New Orleans. In his four seasons, Olave has logged three 1,000-yard seasons, with his lone 400-yard season being cut short due to injury. In comparison, Jets receiver Garrett Wilson, who signed a $130 million deal, has also logged three 1,000-yard seasons in his four years. While Wilson did agree to his deal before the 2025 season, when he went 3/3 on the 1k-yard mark to start his career, he is the best comparison for Olave.
The ceiling for wide receiver contracts is Cincinnati Bengals’ Ja’Marr Chase, who received a four-year $161 million contract in 2025. While this is a steep payday, Chase has been the league’s top receiver since joining the NFL. A realistic floor for Olave is fellow 2022 draftee Jameson Williams, who is on a 3-year $83 million contract. While in a different role, Williams has put up similar numbers to Olave, but isn’t the team’s WR1 and plays more in a gadget role.
Olave is likely to seek a contract similar to Garrett Wilson, but there are a few road bumps in the way. The fourth-year wideout has a history with injuries, specifically surrounding his head....
