Chris Olave has a golden opportunity to force the Saints' hand

The New Orleans Saints begin mandatory minicamp on Tuesday, and eyes should be on whether or not Chris Olave is present and practicing. We know Olave and the Saints are involved in the contract negotiations, and it’ll be interesting to see if Olave exercises this negotiation tactic. 

Olave has previously commented on showing up to voluntary organized team activities and pushed back on the idea of holding out. "The contract is a whole different side of the game. It’s the business side."

Mandatory minicamp presents an opportunity to send a message. If Olave still feels like he did in May, this won’t happen. However, it’s still something to monitor. 

Chris Olave could use this time to put the pressure on the Saints

There’s two ways Olave could go about sending a message to the Saints. Olave could hold out or hold in. Both methods send the message to the Saints brass that an agreement needs to be reached soon. 

The hold out will be easy to recognize. When the Saints take the field for minicamp, Olave won’t simply not participate. He won’t be present. 

This feels unlikely. Olave seemed pretty certain of his stance on showing up. Even if he changed his mind, Olave would probably opt for a more subtle way to send the message. With that in mind, a hold in is a better bet for the wide receiver. 

Olave also already has a built in explanation for the lack of participation. Moore has already said they’re taking a cautious approach to Olave’s recovery from blood clots. Moore could say that’s the reason they don’t have Olave participating in mandatory minicamp. 

It’s an excuse that could go through minicamp, but it wouldn’t work once we got to training camp. It’d be insulting to think that explanation would work in August. It could still be said, but we’d all see past it. 

However, the message isn’t for the media or fans. Olave would deliver the message directly to the Saints: I’m not playing without a new contract.

Both approaches would get the point across. Holding in feels more like Olave’s style if he did anything. It wouldn’t signify frustration either. It’s more about drumming up some urgency. 

Olave felt like things were close to being done. Sometimes negotiations just need that extra motivation to get done. Not participating without a contract would serve as that motivation. 

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