We’ve said it before, and it’s worth reiterating every time it’s proven correct. The New Orleans Saints got an absolute steal with the contract Chris Olave signed, and it gets better every step of the way. The latest proof is the deal Zay Flowers and the Baltimore Ravens agreed to Tuesday morning.
Like Olave, Flowers signed a four year extension, but Flowers’ deal is worth an average of $35 million per year. Olave’s deal is only worth up to $33 million but only $31 million per year without incentives. Flowers also received $18 million more in guaranteed dollars.
This isn’t an argument on whether or not Flowers deserved his deal. It’s also not an argument on who is the better receiver him and Olave. The point is they’re comparable enough to make the discrepancy in pay noticeable.
Every comparison makes the Saints-Chris Olave extension look cheap.
We’ve used Drake London and Garrett Wilson as points of comparison for Olave’s contract during negotiations and after the deal was announced. Without incentives, Olave is making less than both of those players. Even with incentives, he finds himself well under London’s annual average.
Those are the deals that came before Olave. They tell a lot of the story, but Flowers adds a new component. He lays out what receivers are getting post Olave.
What we see is whether it’s pre-Olave or post-Olave, the numbers are pretty similar. Wilson is removed from this part of the conversation because he signed a year before London, Olave and Flowers. The market has shifted since then.
If you feel like Olave is the better receiver then you could say the Ravens overpaid Flowers. The truth is he was given market value. He comes in just a quarter million dollars per year under London.
The Saints clearly got Olave for under market value. The high profile receiver before and after him each receiving $35 million makes that clear and is another feather in their cap in this negotiations.
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