AUGUST 21: Payton said on Thursday (via Luca Evans of the Denver Post) that the Broncos “weren’t actively shopping” Vele, but were approached by three different teams over the course of three days. Though they valued the second-year wideout, they made the difficult decision to send him to the Saints, who were looking for a “bigger receiver.”
Payton later mentioned “Jacksonville” when discussing the trade, per Ryan O’Halloran of The Florida Times-Union, indicating that the Jaguars were one of the other teams who called about Vele. The Jags would then be a team to naturally monitor ahead of cutdown day and the ensuing waiver period regarding a wideout addition.
AUGUST 20: We now have a three-trade Wednesday, as Sean Payton will do business with Mickey Loomis. The Broncos are sending wide receiver Devaughn Vele to the Saints, NewOrleans.football’s Nick Underhill reports.
Although Vele was only a seventh-round pick, he showed promise as a rookie. As a result, the Broncos will gain a strong return on investment. The Saints are sending the Broncos a 2026 fourth-round pick and a 2027 seventh-rounder, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports. The Broncos have since announced the trade.
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Three years remain on Vele’s rookie contract. The Broncos have seen promising preseason work from both Troy Franklin and rookie third-rounder Pat Bryant. With Bryant profiling as a big-bodied outside receiver, Vele’s place in Denver’s passing attack may well have been foggier as a result of the Illinois product’s arrival. Now, he will join a Saints team that experienced significant injury trouble at receiver last year — but one that has now added multiple pieces in 2025.
New Orleans spent much of last season without its top two receiving options — Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed. Olave suffered two concussions and did not return during the team’s late swoon following Derek Carr‘s season-ending injury. Shaheed played in only six games last year, suffering meniscus injury that required a full repair. Both starters are back for the Saints, who also reunited with Brandin Cooks in free agency. Although New Orleans’ starting quarterback has yet to be decided, either Spencer Rattler or Tyler Shough will have two new auxiliary WRs to target.
In Vele, the Saints will land a 6-foot-5 wideout on a seventh-round contract. Vele is one of the older rookies in recent NFL history, however, in already being 27. He will turn 28 before season’s end, complicating his prospects for a second contract down the line. For now, the Saints have him under control through the 2027 season.
Last season, Vele worked as the Broncos’ second-most utilized receiver — behind only Courtland Sutton. As Franklin and Marvin Mims struggled with inconsistency, Vele logged a 53% snap share. The Utah product caught 41 passes for 475 yards and three touchdowns as a rookie.
Payton’s Saints years frequently involved a host of sidekick options alongside a clear No. 1 — be it Marques Colston or Michael Thomas. His second Broncos setup looks similar, with Mims, Franklin and Bryant set to complement the recently extended Sutton. With the Broncos also signing backup/special-teamer Trent Sherfield, they suddenly had a bit of a logjam on their hands. The team has also used rookie UDFA Courtney Jackson as a return man in the preseason; Jackson could have a path to a sixth WR spot with Vele gone.
It is not known which Bronco will succeed Vele as the team’s second-most utilized wideout, but Franklin — a 2024 fourth-round pick who played with Bo Nix at Oregon — looks like an interesting bet for that de facto WR2 role. Then again, Mims came on strong to close last season and drew WR2 buzz this summer. After the Broncos passed on adding a veteran beyond Sherfield, they will count on the Mims-Franklin-Bryant contingent to the point Vele suddenly became expendable. This may still represent some risk for a Broncos team connected to supporting-cast wideouts for most of the offseason, but the return — and the early work from Franklin and Bryant — may have swayed team brass.
Interesting
You have to wonder if Payton knows something we don’t about Vele or if he just likes the other young guys that much.
It’s really rare he gets rid of one of those supporting cast WRs he likes but then again he rarely had supporting cast WRs in New Orleans who were second through fourth round picks.
Maybe Vele was a guy he just went with as a last resort rather than a guy he really liked as one of his guys? Who knows.
Seems more numbers game than anything.
A 4 and 7 for an older player you just drafted on the 7th is a no-brainer.
They must have liked Bryant and Franklin enough to replace him. Lindy’s Pro Football Review projected Vele starting.
@brian wolf. It might’ve been the 4th round pick. Its worth a flip.
I was gonna say the same thing, I’ve been reading Lindy’s cover to cover since 1994. I honestly expected Mims to be traded by October because I figured the other guys would surpass him by then.
This is…shocking. Vele could possibly have been the WR2 in Denver judging by role. Great pickup for New Orleans, who really needed a receiver (especially one with size).
This really clears the way for Mims for the Broncos. They had a buildup of receivers, but Vele had shown the most from the guys not named Sutton. Perhaps this will help Franklin, who was pretty buried on the depth chart before. New Orleans has questions at TE, too, so a taller receiver probably gives them some more of that contested catch ability that they might have gotten from the TE spot before.
All reports this camp though was pretty quiet on vele except for the latest ones coming out this week saying he was performing the least out of the group of established/bryant receivers. With pat bryant showing a more polished game and route tree, flipping vele for a 4th instead of having limited playing time makes sense.
Maybe, and that’s people usually say after trades happen, but it’s still a surprise. I don’t think anybody was saying “Hey, Vele’s getting traded any day now”, and a quiet or mildly disappointing training camp doesn’t compare to a promising season the year before. I’m not saying that Denver is screwed or anything, this is just a surprise.
I agree it was a surprise. I’ve been hearing about this though for the past few weeks, not just after the trade. Vele also had a leg injury that kept him out of camp for some time this offseason as well. I just think with the additions the broncos got, alongside the offer that came in from the saints knowing that the pick in the 4th will probably be near the top of the round; it was a trade that they couldn’t resist. I liked vele for us last season, but then again, he’ll be 28 before the season ends and how many 28 year old players with one season experience are going for a a haul of picks like that.
Yeah, it’s actually a high return on my mind. Vele is someone that I really liked last year, but teams are usually stingy with their picks for vets who aren’t stars. Denver has so many wideouts that they will probably be fine, but I do think Vele fills a role that the others don’t (or haven’t). He’s not irreplaceable at this point, though, and Denver can slot someone else for reps. They got a good pick out of it, in my mind. Pat Bryant isn’t as big, but he’ll probably be the next man up for possession catches after Sutton, which is a lot of what Vele did.
As for Vele, he now probably gets a good chance to start with the Saints. The offense is worse talent-wise by a big margin, and he may be asked to do more than he should do, but he’ll get his opportunities.
Vele was a surprise find last year. Not sure I’d put much faith in his replacements until we see them play against actual NFL starters.
@highaltitude. A 4th and 7th is a good get for 28yr player on his second year. That was probably the deciding factor.
Broncos just didn’t have room for him. Vele kind of profiled as a big slot and with Evan Engram on the team, Engram will probably wind up functioning as their “slot” with Franklin, Mims, and Pat Bryant splitting the “WR2 and WR3” roles but being the 3rd and 4th options in the passing game.
wow, thats going to be the first pick in the 4th round. So you can get a 3rd rounder that fell to day 3. Thats insane value for Denver.