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Kansas City Chiefs quarterback, Patrick Mahomes, walking off the field after beating the New York Giants on September 21, 2025.

The Kansas City Chiefs have had notorious struggles to start the season offensively in 2025.

Although they managed to get through the New York Giants on Sunday Night Football last weekend, fans have not been impressed with the way quarterback, Patrick Mahomes and head coach, Andy Reid have started the season.

Much of that is down to the team being down their top two wideouts; Rashee Rice and Xavier Worthy; along with the expected decline of tight end, Travis Kelce, who remains a very productive but not elite-caliber TE in the NFL.

Chiefs Could Look To Add Another Receiving Threat

So a new trade suggestion has the team put all their chips into the middle and trade for one of the smoothest route-runners in football, Chris Olave. Since returning from a concussion that kept him out for over half the season in 2025, the former Ohio State man has been consistently delivering in what is an otherwise catastrophically misfiring Saints offense.

As a result, John Sigler of USA Today’s Saints Wire proposes that the team could offload their top receiver – who has just under two years left on his current rookie deal – in exchange for substantial draft compensation.

“Olave has a year left on his contract after the Saints picked up his option for 2026,” Sigler wrote on Friday, “so any team trading for him would be on the hook for his $15.5 million salary cap hit next season. He’s going to be seeking a multiyear contract extension worth twice that. Trading him now would give his new team time to see how he performs in their offense and decide whether to extend him.”

What Would The Chiefs Have To Give Up For Chris Olave?

“So what could the Saints get for him? Olave’s injury history is a major concern,” Sigler continued, “but not enough to discourage a playoff team or an offense with an established quarterback. One comparison might be AJ Brown, a former first-round pick who the Tennessee Titans traded for a package of first- and third-round picks (Nos. 18 and 101).”

Sigler compares Olave’s potential compensation to that of AJ Brown, who was moved for a mid-first round pick and a late third.

“Through his first three seasons Brown appeared in 43 games, catching 185 passes for 2,995 yards with 139 first downs and 24 touchdowns. In his first three years Olave has appeared in 39 games with 191 receptions for 2,565 yards, 127 first downs, and 10 touchdowns. Between Olave’s injury history and Brown’s greater utility as a scoring threat, the Saints shouldn’t expect as strong a return. A late first-round pick or an early second rounder could get it done.”

In terms of both impact on games, availability and danger to opposing defenses, you would be hard pressed to find someone who did not consider Brown to be superior to Olave. But there certainly is not a huge amount of difference between the pair. They are both first choice, WR1 types, yet neither would be considered – at least at this point – in the elite, top-5 tier of talents in the league, like Justin Jefferson or Ja’Marr Chase.

A first rounder is definitely a little steep to give up, but for a player who has a couple years left of under-market value contract price, and has been shown to perform well, even with very mediocre quarterbacking, it could well be a shot worth taking for the Chiefs.

Daniel Arwas Daniel Arwas is a sports writer who covers the NFL for Heavy.com. Daniel began his career in sports writing in 2022 and has covered the NFL and college football for Gridiron Heroics and The Hammer. More about Daniel Arwas

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