It was originally believed Chris Olave would show up and be a full participant during training camp despite active negotiations with the New Orleans Saints. The former was true, but the latter wasn't. On the first day of training camp, the wide receiver chose to not participate in team drills, and it's hard to blame him.
Olave is coming off the best year of his career and dodged concussions for the first time since his 2019 season at Ohio State. It just never made sense to step on the field without long term security, when his stock is at its peak.
Running backs Bijan Robinson and Jahmyr Gibbs caught a lot of attention for how they're approaching their negotiations. Olave is taking the same approach, just without the headlines. They all have the same goal in mind: get paid without risking health prior.
Chris Olave is taking the logical next step in his contract negotiationsÂ
That's what this is all about. Bryan Bresee suffered an injury on the first day of training camp, which is exactly what Olave is trying to avoid. Injuries are still a risk when contact isn't heavy, and getting hurt would destroy Olave's leverage.
Kellen Moore understands how this goes, and his public temperament shows these negotiations haven't reached a place of tension, despite the hold in. That's something that's important to note.
Each side wants to get this deal done, and the Saints understand how Olave is attempting to protect himself within the negotiations. "Everyone's been great about this whole process," Moore told media on Wednesday.
At the end of the day, Olave is simply taking the smart approach to this situation. When it was originally reported the negotiations wouldn't impact his participation, it was strange. This always made much more sense.
Holding in, opposed to holding out, also presents a more selfless image to the same mission. Truthfully, Olave didn't even need to go through individual drills. Even doing that shows the kind of teammate he is. A hold in or hold out typically doesn't last forever, so it'll be interesting to see if this results in an extension being agreed on.
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