The Saints Bolster Their Offense with the Acquisition of Devaughn Vele
The New Orleans Saints have strengthened their receiving corps ahead of the start of the regular season, finalizing the acquisition of Devaughn Vele in a trade with the Denver Broncos, as announced by both teams on Wednesday. In return, Denver will receive a fourth-round pick in 2026 and a seventh-round pick in 2027. Vele, a versatile receiver, was selected by the Broncos in the seventh round of the 2024 NFL draft, coming from the University of Utah. In his rookie season, the 27-year-old player participated in 13 games, starting in seven of them, and accumulated 41 receptions for 475 yards, ranking third on the team in both categories among receivers, in addition to scoring three touchdowns. Vele, who missed time during the preseason program due to a knee injury, managed a 6-yard reception in the Broncos’ two preseason games. Standing at 6 feet 5 inches, Vele will offer a valuable size option for the New Orleans team, which has yet to define its starting quarterback for Week 1, with Spencer Rattler and rookie Tyler Shough competing for the position throughout training camp. This addition also provides the Saints with a greater physical presence at the receiver position, as their three main receivers, Chris Olave, Rashid Shaheed, and Brandin Cooks, are 6 feet or shorter. In addition, two of their pass-catching tight ends, Foster Moreau and Taysom Hill, are recovering from knee injuries, and 6-foot-2 receiver Bub Means was placed on the injured reserve list during training camp and will miss the season. These receivers have answered questions about the lack of height all summer, with Cooks commenting in June that beating the opposing cornerback is more important than height.Coach Sean Payton had anticipated from the start of training camp that those responsible for making decisions in Denver would face some of the most difficult choices regarding receivers when the roster was reduced to 53 players next week. The Broncos have used three draft picks in the last two years for receivers: Pat Bryant in April, and Vele and Troy Franklin in 2024. Bryant and Franklin are also among the receivers, along with Courtland Sutton, Marvin Mims Jr., and Trent Sherfield Sr., who have consistently worked ahead of Vele on the depth chart lately. When asked about the depth of the team at the receiver position this past week, Payton responded: “I like it, there will be some difficult decisions. There is a possibility that a receiver who could be here today could be on a 53-man roster elsewhere. So that’s a good thing.” He will turn 28 in December and will be 30 when his rookie contract expires. His college career was delayed after he served a two-year Mormon mission after high school. Then, he took a redshirt year in his first season and was granted an extra year due to COVID-19. “I know my clock runs differently than others,” he said earlier. “My focus is to work as quickly as I can to contribute.” This is the Saints’ second trade in a week. They sent defensive tackle Khalen Saunders to the Jacksonville Jaguars in exchange for center Luke Fortner, just hours after the teams played on Sunday. The Saints and Broncos will face off in the final preseason game on Saturday in New Orleans.“I think a lot of us can do it, so there’s a lot of narrative: There’s no tall guy, there’s no big guy, but we can all separate and so it doesn’t matter what similarities we have,” Cooks said.
Brandin Cooks
