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On Sunday, the Seahawks will look to get their first home victory of the season, as they square off against the 0-2 New Orleans Saints. This game presents a great opportunity for Seattle to get above .500 as it prepares for a massive Thursday night game in Arizona. It could also present an opportunity to see potential trade targets on the Saints roster.
The Saints have not played like an 0-2 team. While they are winless, they looked feisty and competitive in close losses to the Cardinals and 49ers. While you can see Kellen Moore’s fingerprints on this team already, their consistently rough cap situation and lack of a viable quarterback has them squarely in rebuild mode. With Klint Kubiak having just been the offensive coordinator in New Orleans last year, there could be a potential fit to make a deal.
Could one of their talented receivers be a fit at the trade deadline?
A former All-Pro as a kick returner, Shaheed broke out towards the end of 2024 as a receiver under Kubiak. In just five starts last year, Rashid caught 20 passes for nearly 350 yards and three scores. Expand that out over a full season, and you’re talking about a guy with 68 receptions, nearly 1,200 yards and 10 TD’s.
The fourth year player out of Weber State clearly has big-play ability, and feels like a strong potential fit to slide into the deep play-action home-run guy for Seattle, if they are concerned about Tory Horton being that guy as a rookie on a team with playoff aspirations.
A free agent this offseason, Shaheed just turned 27, and could be a clear extension candidate for Seattle, while it’s unlikely he fits the Saints plan in the long term.
A deal involving Shaheed likely falls somewhere in the fourth-round to fifth-round pick range. I think Rashid is a good role player, and finding a true guy to take the top off the defense could be crucial to opening up opportunities for other guys.
Do I think that Chris Olave is available? Not entirely. Is it fair to be worried about Olave with his concussion history? Yes. Am I still interested in Olave? Absolutely.
Olave was an absolute star at Ohio State (and former teammate with JSN) who won two Rose Bowls and played in two separate CFP’s. His success at The Wide Receiver University led to Olave being drafted 11th overall in 2022.
In his first two seasons, he looked like a future star, catching 159 passes for over 2,200 yards and nine scores for some not-very-good Saints teams. In a lost 2024 season where Olave only played eight games, it feels like he has been completely forgotten because of his concussion issues.
In two games so far, I have been incredibly impressed by Olave’s health, toughness, and fight. While the numbers (13 receptions for 108 yards) are nothing to write home about, Chris has been targeted 23 times and should have much better numbers, but he’s stuck with Spencer Rattler as his quarterback right now. Even still, he does not look timid going over the middle, and still shows the smoothness talent of someone who could achieve his potential with a better QB and roster around him.
And that’s probably the reason why Olave is unlikely to be made available at the deadline. The Saints picked up his fifth-year player option, so he’s going to be on the Saints roster next year, barring a trade. I can see where Moore wants Olave around for his future first-round QB selection, which feels inevitable come next spring.
But, if things looked bad enough that the Saints decide they need to tear it all down, there could be a deal to be had. I think the Saints are waiting for someone to bring a second-round pick to the table, and it’s unlikely any team will take that risk, considering Olave’s injury history. If Seattle believes in Olave, and believes that he and JSN could be a potentially dynamic duo for the next half decade, I’d be willing to offer a third and fifth-round pick to New Orleans as my opening offer.
I feel like Shaheed will get traded at the deadline, but it’s hard for me not to think Olave’s potential and fit in Seattle could be perfect. If you truly believe he can be healthy (and stay healthy) then I’d like to see John Schneider be aggressive, and bring one of these guys across the field to the Seahawks after Sunday.
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