NFL insider pours freezing cold water on latest trade rumors around Saints WR Chris Olave and the Steelers

Palmer's latest on potential Olave trade

NFL insider James Palmer recently doused these rumors in cold water. The whole conversation feels like more of a hypothetical, rather than a reality. Palmer's thoughts back that up as well.

My understanding is the Saints are very encouraged by where Olave is physically and have high expectations for him in 2025. I've never had the sense they've wanted to part ways with an explosive young player like Olave. -- James Palmer

The Saints have no real reason to  move on from Olave at this point of the offseason. They have young quarterback options, who who need talented pass catchers to throw the football to during their hopeful development under Moore's tutelage. 

I spoke to fellow A to Z Sports contributor Rob Gregson about Olave's potential fit in Pittsburgh and the lack of a likelihood that the Saints would trade him. He made plenty of valid points regarding the situation. 

Chris Olave would be a perfect fit for this iteration of the Steelers offense. So much so that fans were probably really hoping that the trade rumors were true.

A young player of his caliber, he may have some injury concerns but when healthy, he’s a dynamic weapon that could run routes and get downfield alongside DK Metcalf.

The Steelers are most certainly inquiring about WRs. They know that they are a sprained DK Metcalf ankle away from one of the worst WR corps in the entire league.

So for that reason alone, Olave made a lot of sense. From NO’s standpoint, trading away one of the more promising WRs in the league never made a ton of sense. 

-- Rob Gregson

Wouldn't make sense for New Orleans

As I mentioned earlier, the Saints trading Olave has flaws for their team baked into the route. They just picked up his fifth-year option, and Rashid Shaheed is coming off a season-ending injury from last year. 

If he misses any regular season time and Olave wasn't in the building, New Orleans would be looking at Brandin Cooks and Juwan Johnson as their biggest passing game threats outside of RB Alvin Kamara. That feels pretty unreasonable after you just hired an offensive guru head coach. 

Not to mention, Moore relayed tons of confidence in Olave's role and production for the upcoming season during the annual league meetings. He did not seem pushed to trade the young wideout whatsoever - and for good reason. 

“Chris is a phenomenal player. He has had a huge impact on this team. He’s going to have a huge impact (again).” -- Kellen Moore at the annual league meetings

All in all, rumors swirl around the NFL constantly, particularly during the slowest times of the offseason. The Saints would be smart to hang on to Olave for the foreseeable future and try their best to keep him healthy.