While some players looking for contract extensions opt to skip voluntary offseason work periods in hopes of speeding the process along, Saints wide receiver Chris Olave has not gone that route this spring.
Olave has been part of the Saints’ workouts and explained last week that being “committed to winning” led him to make that call. He said that contract talks are “a whole different side of the game” and General Manager Mickey Loomis said a few weeks ago that the two sides were “not there yet” despite a desire to get something done on both sides.
Olave sounds optimistic that they’ll cover any remaining ground in the near future, though.
“I feel like we’re going to come down to that before training camp,” Olave said, via WBRZ. “I hope we do, so we don’t affect the chemistry going into training camp, but I think it’s going to get done soon.”
Olave set career bests with 100 catches for 1,163 yards and nine touchdowns during the 2025 season. The Saints added first-round pick Jordyn Tyson to the receiving corps in April and pairing both wideouts with second-year quarterback Tyler Shough is part of the team’s plan to contend for a playoff berth in 2026.
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At this point, a post-June 1 trade of Eagles receiver A.J. Brown should be expected. The changing of the calendar from May to June opens the door to other possible trades.
The benefit comes from the ability to spread the dead-money charge over multiple seasons. This makes it more attractive for high-profile players with big-money contracts to be moved to a new team after June 1.
The biggest name that potentially lands in the post-June 1 trade category (other than Brown) is Browns defensive end Myles Garrett. Last month, we reviewed the mixed signals emanating from Cleveland as to whether that could happen.
His recent contract restructuring delayed his annual option bonus until seven days before the start of the regular season. With the Browns not required to pay Garrett $29.2 million by March 15, that instantly became a factor pointing toward a potential move.
After June 1, a trade would actually create cap space for the Browns by sending Garrett’s 2026 option bonus and his 2026 salary to a new team, leaving behind only his 2026 bonus proration ($15.534 million) on the books this year. Any remaining cap charge would move to 2027, offset by the unloading of his 2027 cap number if he were still on the team.
So, yes, Garrett’s deal becomes tradable after June 1 — even though the Browns have insisted he won’t be traded.
Other veterans become easier to trade from a cap standpoint after June 1. The most obvious post-June 1 trade candidate is Saints running back Alvin Kamara, who has been supplanted by the arrival of Travis Etienne.
The Cardinals, who paid defensive end Josh Sweat a guaranteed option bonus of $7.22 million in March, could trade him after June 1 and push $16.515 million in cap charges into 2027. (They’re reportedly getting calls about Sweat, who has been absent from offseason workouts.)
A trade of Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby remains a possibility, but the passing of June 1 doesn’t impact the cap consequences. His current contract has no bonus proration beyond 2026.
However it goes, June 1 (which used to mark a fresh wave of free agency before teams could cut players with a post-June 1 designation) remains a key date as it relates to the trading of contracts with significant dead money still attached to them.
In his Thursday press conference, Saints head coach Kellen Moore noted that running back Alvin Kamara is not in attendance for the day’s OTA practice.
That’s not unusual. As noted by Nick Underhill of NewOrleans.football on Wednesday, Kamara has been working out with his own trainers in preparation for 2026, as he often does.
But given that General Manager Mickey Loomis said earlier this month that the team is “trying to see how [Kamara is] gonna fit on our roster,” it’s notable that Kamara isn’t in attendance — even if it’s not out of the ordinary.
Plus, this is a voluntary portion of the offseason program, so Kamara is not required to attend.
Kamara is under contract through the 2026 season and is set to make $3 million guaranteed this season.
The veteran running back played 11 games last season, accounting for 657 yards from scrimmage. He rushed for 471 yards with one touchdown and caught 33 passes for 186 yards in 2025.
Moore also noted that Nathan Shepherd, Zach Wilson, and Ryan Wright are not participating at Thursday’s OTA practice for personal reasons.
Saints head coach Kellen Moore said in March that the team will be holding training camp in Louisiana this summer, but they will head to California for some extended work as well.
The Saints are scheduled to be in Los Angeles for their second preseason game and Moore said at a Thursday press conference that the team is slated to hold joint practices with the Rams before that contest. Moore also said that the team plans to work out with the Cowboys, who train in Oxnard, while they are out west.
The final game of the preseason will take place against the Cowboys in Dallas.
Moore said that the team will also be hosting joint practices with the Jaguars. The two teams will face each other in the Superdome on August 15.
The newest member of the Saints’ linebacker group is already very familiar with the team’s position coach.
New Orleans announced the signing of Jackson Sirmon to their 53-man roster on Wednesday. Sirmon’s father Peter is the team’s linebackers coach and he was also his son’s coach when the younger Sirmon was playing at Cal in college.
Sirmon signed with the Jets after going undrafted in 2024 and spent the season on the practice squad. He appeared in one game last season and had one tackle on special teams.
The Saints waived cornerback Jeremiah McClendon to create space for Sirmon on the roster. McClendon signed after going undrafted last month.
The Texans are adding some depth at receiver.
Houston is signing Jha’Quan Jackson, according to Aaron Wilson of KPRC Houston.
Jackson, 26, was a Titans sixth-round pick in 2024. He appeared in 12 games as a rookie, returning 28 punts, averaging 7.7 yards. He also returned 16 kicks, averaging 25.8 yards.
Tennessee waived him last August as a part of their roster cuts to 53 players.
Since then, he’s spent time with the Saints and the St. Louis Battlehawks of the UFL.
With the No. 8 overall pick of this year’s draft, the Saints added a player who should be able to make a major impact on their offense in receiver Jordyn Tyson.
A two-time, first-team All-Big 12 honoree, Tyson’s skillset and tape have been impressive to New Orleans quarterback Tyler Shough.
“I think his body control and his separation is what stands out to me,” Shough said on Monday, via NewOrleans.football. “I think he’s an elite separator and also, his hands have been really exciting to see kind of close up now. He’s so sure-handed. He’s got this great kind of feel. He’s very friendly to the quarterback, I would say. And, obviously, his big-play ability is what shows up all over tape.
“So, we’re still very early on in the process, and, I think, more than anything, just getting on the same page with the playbook. He’s doing a really good job of that. I think he’s really smart. So, we’re excited to keep going with him.”
Though he missed a few games with a hamstring injury last year, Tyson was still a first-team All-Big 12 honoree for the second consecutive season. He caught 61 passes for 711 yards with eight TDs in 2025.
The Saints selected wide receiver Jordyn Tyson with the eighth overall pick last month. Tyson isn’t a future replacement for Chris Olave. Instead, the Saints want to build their passing attack around Olave and Tyson.
Olave, though, is set to become a free agent after this season.
General Manager Mickey Loomis wants to get a deal done, but the sides have no timetable on a long-term extension.
“Obviously, we’d love to have something done sooner than later, and I’m sure Chris would as well, but we’re not there yet,” Loomis said Monday, via Katherine Terrell of ESPN.
Olave, who turns 26 next month, is under contract for this season at $15.49 million under his fifth-year option.
He has three 1,000-yard seasons in his four seasons, catching 291 passes for 3,728 yards and 19 touchdowns.
Saints General Manager Mickey Loomis gave an update on where things stand with running back Alvin Kamara when he spoke to reporters on Monday and he also touched on the status of a couple of longtime members of the team who remain unsigned for the 2026 season.
Defensive end Cam Jordan has talked about leaving the door open to returning to New Orleans for his 16th season and Loomis said the team is also open to a return. He said, via multiple reporters, that there is a contract offer on the table for Jordan.
Jordan hasn’t signed that contract, obviously, and that suggests he’s looking for something more from the Saints or someone else before making any commitment for the coming season.
While Jordan could be back, it doesn’t look like tight end Taysom Hill will be back in a Saints uniform. Loomis said that there’s no offer out to him and Hill’s emotional words after the final 2025 home game may have been his final ones as a member of the team.
Running back Alvin Kamara sounds like he wants to be with the Saints for the 2026 season, but it remains less than a sure thing that is how all will play out in New Orleans.
Kamara is under contract, but the signing of Travis Etienne in free agency and a contract tweak that makes it easier to part ways with him after June 1 have clouded the veteran’s future with the team. General Manager Mickey Loomis and head coach Kellen Moore have consistently stopped short of making any commitment to Kamara this offseason beyond saying that he’s currently on the roster.
Loomis addressed Kamara’s status again on Monday and alluded to a pay cut being part of the path to Kamara staying put for another season.
“We’re just trying to see how he’s gonna fit on our roster,” Loomis said, via Luke Johnson of the New Orleans Times-Picayune. “Obviously there’s a resource management element. We’ll get to that over the next week or two.”
Kamara has spent all nine of his NFL seasons with the Saints and it looks like we’ll know sometime next month if he’ll make it a decade.
