The Saints Paid $132 Million for Olave. Now They Need Him to Stay Healthy.

Chris Olave picked up a hamstring injury heading into Week 1, which is a problem on its own. It's a bigger problem when you consider what New Orleans built around him. The four-year, $132 million extension signed in late July was the clearest signal the front office sent all offseason: Olave is the offensive centerpiece, the one piece of continuity the Saints were betting on while everything else — the quarterback situation, the backfield, the defense — remained unsettled.

The receiver room behind him is thin in ways that were already concerning before this. Ja'Lynn Polk retired. Jordyn Tyson, the rookie first-rounder, has been out since mid-August with a hamstring of his own. The practice squad additions in early September helped at the margins. Mason Tipton, Cedric Tillman, and Trey Palmer are the names behind Olave on the depth chart, and none of them have been asked to carry an offense.

Alvin Kamara is active, which is the good news from this injury report — his MCL scare looked worse a few weeks ago. Spencer Rattler is ready. But last season, Olave was the one consistent weapon Rattler had, finishing with 1,163 receiving yards and nine touchdowns across 16 games. That production didn't fix the team's problems, but it papered over some of them. Without it, there's less margin for everything else to go wrong — and a lot has already gone wrong.

His status for Week 1 isn't confirmed either way yet. The Saints will find out soon enough whether the investment holds up from the jump.