Devaughn Vele Could Be the Saints’ Long-Term Receiving Weapon

The New Orleans Saints are 14 days away from their season opener against the Arizona Cardinals. As we continue our countdown to kickoff we'll take a look at the Saints latest acquisition, Devaughn Vele.

The Saints picked up Vele from the Denver Broncos. At least the deal went through days before the two teams faced off instead of hours after the game like the Khalen Saunders deal.

The immediate view of the trade is the Saints finally got their big bodied wide receiver that was missing from this offense in 2025. We should be looking at the long-term vision of this trade, as all signs point to Vele being around for a long time.

Devaughn Vele should be looked at as a potential fixture for the Saints offense

As I wrote this piece, I spontaneously developed a new system called future formula. This may be a thing, but I've never heard it before or at least as a term. The name is still a work in progress. Future formula is essentially a method of defining the long-term security of a player's roster spot. It's the NFL, and anything can happen. Let's not take this as an exact science.

The standard pieces of the formula are age, contract and value to the team. Seeing that Vele has yet to play a game for the Saints at this point, so we'll use the trade compensation in place of value to the team.

The Saints gave up a fourth round pick in a season where expectations are low. The decision can be criticized, but it shows they see a long term future with Vele. He may start under the Saints top-three receivers, but that could change as early as this year. His size and clearly defined role may make him a more prominent receiver than Brandin Cooks.

Vele is only entering his second year, which introduces the age and contract components. On one hand, he's 27 years old. On the other hand, he still has three more years of being paid as a seventh round selection. He's older but is still fresh. Vele entered the league later due to serving a mission as a member of the LDS church.

All the pieces fall in place for Vele. Age is the one thing that may be working against him, but that's a matter of perspective. If he can build on a solid rookie season, Vele will be a part of the Saints receiving corps for years to come.