Chris Olave is right back in the middle of a New Orleans crosshair: is the New Orleans Saints wide receiver truly an elite WR1, or just a really good No. 1 option? That question didn’t come from the locker room — it was pushed hard this week by a Times-Picayune/NOLA.com analysis and a local TV debate after the Saints’ 21-17 loss to the Miami Dolphins.
Times-Picayune Column, TV Debate Put Olave Under the Microscope
In the NOLA.com/Times-Picayune piece by Matthew Paras, the starting point is a single late-game play in Miami: second-and-1, Saints down late, Tyler Shough takes a deep shot to Olave near the pylon. Dolphins corner Jack Jones slips, the ball gets to Olave in traffic, and it squirts away. A catch probably gives New Orleans the lead and a signature road win.
Paras notes that WDSU’s Fletcher Mackel and analyst (and former Saints lineman) James Hurst questioned whether a true WR1 can afford to miss that moment. Their back-and-forth — and the column built around it — essentially ask whether Olave, 25, has done enough to justify the “elite” tag and the kind of long-term money that comes with it.
To be clear: that criticism is coming from local media voices, not from the Saints. Head coach Kellen Moore publicly framed the throw as a tough, low-percentage chance, and NFL tracking data backs that up with an expected completion rate around 30%.
The Times-Picayune column turns that single play into a bigger question: if Olave’s going to be paid near the top of the market, shouldn’t he start stacking those game-stealing moments the same way Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Justin Jefferson, Ja’Marr Chase and the top tier do?
What the Numbers Say About Olave Right Now
Strip away the TV soundbites and you still have a complicated profile. On one hand, Olave has bounced back from a concussion-marred 2024 and is again the clear focal point of the Saints offense. Through Week 13, he sits tied for ninth in the NFL in receptions (73) and is top 20 in yards (around 780) with five touchdowns.
On the other hand, that’s volume-heavy production on a 2-10 team that spends a ton of time in catch-up mode. He’s near the top of the league in targets but more in the middle of the pack in yardage and scoring. That gap is part of what critics latch onto when they argue he hasn’t quite hit “takeover-the-game” status every week.
New Orleans clearly believes in him. The Saints already picked up his fifth-year option, locking him in through 2026 and committing roughly $15.5 million to him that season. That’s the bridge to a potential mega-extension, and it’s where the WR1 debate suddenly has real financial stakes.
What It Means for Olave’s Next Contract & the Saints’ Offense
If Olave eventually asks to be paid like the names at the top of the current wide receiver market — Ja’Marr Chase, Jefferson, CeeDee Lamb, D.K. Metcalf and others in the $30-40 million-per-year range — the front office has to answer the same question local media just did: is he truly in that tier, or a half-step below?
It’s worth noting that external analysts still see star-level upside. Fantasy and film-focused sites have highlighted his route-running and deep speed and pointed to his yards-per-route numbers as evidence that the talent is there when healthy and properly supported.
So… Is Chris Olave an Elite WR1 Yet?
Right now, the fairest answer is probably: he’s playing like a high-volume No. 1 wideout who still has to close the gap between “really good” and “undeniably elite.”
The Times-Picayune analysis and TV chatter are doing what local media does — zooming in on one miss in Miami and turning it into a referendum on a player’s label. That makes for a lively debate, but it doesn’t change what the Saints’ actions say: exercising the fifth-year option, constantly feeding him targets and publicly backing him through injuries and growing pains.
If Olave starts cashing in more of those 30-percent chances in the fourth quarter, the “elite” conversation probably takes care of itself, and the next contract gets a lot more expensive. For now, the harshest words are coming from New Orleans media, not Airline Drive.
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