For any fans who wondered who the New Orleans Saints would trade between Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed, you now have your answer. It's Shaheed.
Olave and Shaheed have had their name thrown into trade rumors more than any other player. There's a strong hypothetical case for the Saints to trade either receiver, and there has always been the underlying feeling that one of them had to go. The question was always which one.
Moving on from Olave would send a drastically different message and have more significant fallout than dealing Shaheed, but the decision was never as simple as who is the better receiver. It was a signal of how the Saints want to proceed into the future. Piecing together recent reports unsurprisingly tells you it's Shaheed on the block.
The most obvious team came calling for Chris Olave
The Buffalo Bills felt like an obvious fit for Olave. When throwing teams out there who could come calling for the wide receiver, Buffalo was always the first team mentioned. Low and behold, per The Athletic's Dianna Russini, the Bills reached out to the Saints to gauge Olave's availability. That was shut down quickly as Russini maintained the expectation is for Olave to stay where he is.
Buffalo is a team pushing for a Super Bowl that doesn't have an established top wide receiver. Looking for someone like Olave makes sense. He can be an one-year rental if need me, or the Bills can lock him down to a long term contract if things work out. Additionally, Olave would give Josh Allen an option to stretch the field consistently. It's a role he was looking for in New Orleans. In Buffalo, it may be the role they intend for Olave.
It doesn't look like the Saints are budging, however. Behind closed doors, Tyler Shough is probably thanking the coaching staff for it. Having your top receiver snatched from you right as you begin to start feels like a recipe for struggles.
Saints have set Rashid Shaheed's asking price
NewOrleans.Football's Nick Underhill revealed he's hearing the Saints want a third round pick in return for Shaheed. That message was relayed to an anonymous AFC team. It tells you both the Saints are willing to trade Shaheed and they know exactly what they want in return.
A third rounder feels like an appropriate request when viewing it through the lens of the compensatory picks. They start at the end of the third round. Asking for a third round selection ensures you'll get better than a compensatory a pick.
While he's been more involved underneath as well, Shaheed is a deep ball specialist. Every team can use that role if they don't have it already. It makes him attractive to pretty much anyone. The next question is that a price the Saints are sticking to and will teams want to pay it.