Canal Street Chronicles
The New Orleans Saints have finally added some height to their wide receiver room with the acquisition of former Denver Broncos 2024 seventh-round NFL draft pick Devaughn Vele in exchange for a 2026 fourth-round pick and a 2027 seventh-rounder.
The 27-year-old, standing 6-foot-5 and 210 pounds, hauled in 41 of 56 targets (9 contested catches and 4 drops) for 475 yards and 3 touchdowns as a rookie in Denver, earning a 71.4 receiving grade from Pro Football Focus—10th among rookie wideouts.
Broncos signal callers had a 74.5% completion rate when targeting the Utah Utes alum last season, according to Luke Johnson of The Times-Picayune. On third down, 11 of his 12 receptions moved the chains, and among 89 wideouts who were targeted at least 50 times in 2024, only three had a higher success rate than Vele—Detroit Lions’ Amon-Ra St. Brown, Cincinnati Bengals’ Tee Higgins and Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Chris Godwin, per Stathead. Vele also ranked fourth in EPA (expected points added) per target among receivers with at least 40 targets, according to The 33rd Team.
Adam Thielen – 0.68
Amon-Ra St. Brown – 0.67
Jalen Coker – 0.63
Devaughn Vele – 0.62
I’ve seen some negative reactions to this move since the Saints gave up future assets for a player who turns 28 in December, and has also missed time this summer with a knee injury. Regardless, Vele was a productive rookie and New Orleans desperately needed size at wide receiver—entering camp as one of the only teams in the NFL without a wideout over 6-foot-2 outside of the Minnesota Vikings. The Saints weren’t the only team pursuing him either, as multiple other teams reportedly reached out to Denver about a potential deal.
If he can put up similar numbers to what he did as a rookie in Denver, that would give the New Orleans offense a significant boost in 2025 and take some pressure off Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed.
It’s also worth noting the Saints are projected to receive a fourth-round compensatory pick in next year’s draft for losing Paulson Adebo to the New York Giants in free agency. With that in mind, I’m not upset at the compensation, and I’m excited to see what Vele can do in New Orleans this season. What about you?
