Many fans questioned the decision to extend Chris Olave because of his past injury history. All the concussions Olave has suffered over his pro and collegiate career don't just get erased after a career season, and that's not lost on the New Orleans Saints.
The Saints also have a stipulation in Olave's contract that triggers if he has to retire from football due to concussions or respiratory pulmonary embolism. The receiver has clearly had to battle concussions in his career, and he missed the season finale due to blood clots. If either of those pop up again and force Olave to step away from the game, his injury guarantees will be voided.
Ironically, the day the news came out, Olave had to leave practice early. It was merely the wind getting knocked out of him at the end of practice, but the timing couldn't have been worse. Or maybe it's just more reflective of the constant worry that comes with Olave's health.
Saints prepared themselves for anything with Chris Olave
The wide receiver suffered a concussion in each of the first three years of his career and in his final season at Ohio State. The most recent concussion led to Olave missing the back half of the 2024 season. Most notably, it even led to him contemplating retirement.
Obviously, Olave didn't do that and bounced back to have his best season as a pro. Unfortunately, production doesn't erase those types of concerns. The production got Olave the contract, and the concerns produced the security.
This isn't the only way the Saints secured themselves. They included a game by game bonus to protect against Olave having to miss time.
The entire contract honestly feels impacted Olave's injury history, and the feeling only gets stronger as you look deeper into the contract. On the surface, the deal is modest in comparison to the contracts Drake London and Zay Flowers received this offseason. It's more comparable to Garrett Wilson's deal, despite the fact that Wilson signed a year ago.
It looks good with the initially reported $33 million. You don't even have to dig deep to find that it's a heavily incentive based contract. That makes things even better.
Olave has $2 million in annual incentives that will be difficult to grab. If he does succeed, then the Saints have an even greater bargin.
The Saints genuinely played it safe throughout negotiations, and the retirement due to injury clause was the largest example. It may also be their smartest. They'll have to go through a third party when making the decision Olave will have to retire just so there's no wiggle room.
For a player who considered retirement just a year ago, you have to wonder what one more concussion would do to Olave. He was able to dodge it last year, but if there will always be a question of if his next concussion makes Olave actually call it quits.
Add us as a preferred source on Google