Saints General Manager Mickey Loomis Announces Major Decision on Pending Fifth-Year Options

The Saints announced their decisions on Chris Olave and Trevor Penning’s fifth-year options.

The New Orleans Saints have announced their decisions regarding the fifth-year options for wide receiver Chris Olave and tackle Trevor Penning.

General Manager Mickey Loomis held a pre-draft press conference on Wednesday. While Loomis emphasized he would only answer questions on the upcoming draft, he eventually caved and answered about the team’s pending fifth-year option decisions.

Loomis confirmed the Saints will pick up star wide receiver Chris Olave’s fifth-year option, but decline tackle Trevor Penning’s.

Olave has been a bright spot on the Saints’ offense, posting two 1,000-yard seasons in his first three years. Despite the star wide receiver’s production since entering the league, there was uncertainty if New Orleans would pick up his option due to injuries. Olave has suffered four confirmed concussions in his NFL career, including two during the 2024 season.

Tackle Trevor Penning had a rough start to his career. From seeing minimal action as a rookie to being benched in his second year, it was always likely Penning’s option could be declined.

However, Penning showed growth after making a switch from left tackle to right tackle. While not flawless, Penning was able to start the entire 2024 season. He showed the potential to be a starting tackle for the Saints’ future with dominating reps over pass rushers.

Declining Penning’s option doesn’t mean he can’t be a part of the team’s future and Loomis made it clear by stating “that doesn’t mean we don’t love Trevor and expect him to be part of our team going forward.” The Saints want to see another season of growth from the young tackle in 2025 and a possible extension could be worked out before he hits free agency in 2026.

By picking up Olave’s option, the Saints are showing a commitment to keeping one of their core young pieces rostered and working towards a potential extension. With New Orleans likely to start a young quarterback in 2025, retaining a reliable target like Olave could be a key piece of development for the young passer.

“He is the best” Saints Ready to Make Massive Trade Deal for Star Running Back Alvin Kamara Replacement

Throughout his eight years with the New Orleans Saints, running back Alvin Kamara has solidified himself as one of the best at his position, being named to five Pro Bowls and Second-Team All-Pro twice.

Last season, he rushed 228 times for 950 yards and six touchdowns, while adding 68 receptions for 543 yards and two touchdowns.

However, Kamara will be 30 years old by the start of the 2025 season, and that’s why, in a Fox Sports mock draft, Henry McKenna predicts the Saints will trade with the Jacksonville Jaguars, moving from No. 9 to No. 5 to select Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty.

“New Saints coach Kellen Moore just came from an Eagles offense that changed after Saquon Barkley arrived,” McKenna wrote.  “Jeanty is the best running back prospect since Barkley. So it’s a perfect match.”

There’s no doubt that Jeanty is an extremely talented player, finishing runner-up in Heisman Trophy voting in 2024 after racking up 2,601 rushing yards (second-most in FBS history) and 29 touchdowns on 374 attempts.

Of course, there’s a belief he could immediately come in and be many teams’ top running back option, but that wouldn’t be necessary with the Saints as Kamara is under contract through the 2026 season as part of his two-year, $24.5 million extension.

That means if this scenario did become a reality and the Saints moved on from Kamara when that deal is up, Jeanty would still have three seasons, including the fifth-year option, left in his rookie contract with the team.

BREAKING: Shedeur Sanders makes final decision Over New Orleans Saints move

Will Shedeur Sanders end up with the Saints?

New Orleans Saints quarterback Derek Carr could potentially miss the entire 2025 season with a shoulder injury. This injury has turned up the urgency on the Saints to find a franchise quarterback in the NFL Draft.

Among all the quarterback prospects the Saints could pursue, Colorado signal caller Shedeur Sanders is the best option available. A lot of experts expect the Saints to select Sanders at pick No. 9 in the first round of the draft.

NFL Spinzone’s Lou Scataglia recently put together a mock draft for the NFL Draft. Scataglia predicted the Colorado signal caller would land with the Pittsburgh Steelers at pick No. 21 rather than with the Saints.

“The Pittsburgh Steelers being able to grab Shedeur Sanders at pick 21 would be the ideal scenario,” Scataglia wrote. “The biggest threat to the Steelers quest to take Sanders, if that is what they want, is a team leap-frogging them with a trade up to the 20th pick, for example. Well, that did not happen in this mock draft, as Steelers GM Omar Khan is able to stay put and take who they hope to be their franchise QB.”

In this mock draft, Scataglia has the Saints passing up on Sanders at pick No. 9. With him falling all the way to pick No. 21, the Saints could explore a trade up scenario in this situation.

Either way, missing out on Sanders would be quite a disaster for the Saints, but there’s almost no chance the Steelers would pass up on the superstar prospect.

“Everyone’s time comes to an end’ Former Saints LB Blast Derek Carr after shoulder injury news

The New Orleans Saints were thrown quite the curveball over the weekend when it was reported that Derek Carr’s 2025 season could be in jeopardy due to a shoulder injury he suffered. It’s worth noting that even before Carr’s injury came into play, the Saints were likely considering taking a quarterback in the first round.

That has led some fans to speculate if perhaps Carr simply didn’t want to play mentor and is saying he’s too injured so that he doesn’t have to be in that role this year or compete with the rookie signal-caller that gets drafted. Former Saints linebacker Scott Shanle touched on this in a recent social media post and unleashed on Carr.

“My two cents about Derek Carr shoulder injury news. If he’s pouting because the Saints are gonna look for a young QB in the draft he’s too thin skinned to be your quarterback and the guys in that locker room deserve better. A competitive person would say it’s time to play so well the young guy won’t touch the field anyways. Nothing is promised to anyone in the NFL. Everyone’s time comes to an end. Nobody is owed anything.
If really injured should be at facility and surrounded by surgery specialists today!
Mrs Benson didn’t pay you 40 million dollars a year to do car reviews on YouTube.

Tough times will always reveal a man’s character.”

Scott Shanle doesn’t hold back when voicing opinions on Derek Carr injury saga

Now it’s worth noting that we don’t know for certain what’s going on here. Saints fans are pretty fed up with Carr so jumping to the conclusion that he’s done with the team and doesn’t want to help mentor a young quarterback could be a result of that frustration. That being said, Shanle speaking up on the matter puts it more into focus and he didn’t mince words here.

The part that really jumped out at me here was “A competitive person would say it’s time to play so well the young guy won’t touch the field anyways” and that’s so true. These guys are crazy competitive and we’ve seen in the past how veteran quarterbacks play their tails off after their team drafts a guy to prove they’re not done yet. Shanle’s comment makes it sound as though Carr does not fall into that category. If Carr is truly injured, however, then playing is not an option for him.

This is just another chapter in the ‘Derek Carr was a bad signing’ book and hopefully soon, the Saints can move on from the situation. Maybe they’ll even find their franchise quarterback in this draft and can move on a lot faster.

INCOMING: Saints Ready to Steal $72 Million Superstar From Dolphins In Massive Trade deal

The New Orleans Saints have made strides in the right direction over the last year or so, but their roster is still rather weak, specifically at cornerback. The Saints traded away Marshon Lattimore last season and opted to let Paulson Adebo walk in free agency this offseason.

Now, they need to turn the either the NFL Draft, trade block, or both in order to land a star defensive back. Luckily for New Orleans, the ideal option reportedly just landed on the trade block.

NFL insider Ian Rapoport recently reported that the Miami Dolphins and superstar cornerback Jalen Ramsey are mutually set to explore trade options for the star.

“The Dolphins and seven-time Pro Bowl CB Jalen Ramsey are mutually set to explore trade options and it wouldn’t be a surprise if he played elsewhere in 2025,” Rapoport wrote in a post to Twitter/X. “While there is no firm deadline on a possible trade, with the NFL Draft 9 days away, completing a trade prior to the draft would make sense — if only so Miami can use the pick or picks they would acquire for Ramsey.”

The Saints worked hard to fix their cap situation this offseason and acquiring Ramsey would take a step in the wrong direction on that front, but he’s a superstar cornerback with the ability to shut down some of the game’s best pass catchers.

The Saints need a No. 1 cornerback heading into next season and it likely wouldn’t cost a huge haul of draft picks to steal Ramsey from the Dolphins. If he’s as affordable as many expect him to be, it would be foolish for the Saints to not throw their name in the hat to land hi,.