ESPN's Benjamin Solak campaigns for the New Orleans Saints trading Devaughn Vele to the Kansas City Chiefs that clearly has one intention in mind, make the Chiefs better. There's typically a clear winner in trade, but if this was a game of "who says no," the Saints should be the first to decline this trade. Yes, the trade makes them worse, but it's the compensation that really makes things bad.
I can wrap my head around being sellers at the trade deadline, but the Saints should get more than Xavier Worthy and a lesser pick for Vele. Solak has the Saints giving up Vele and a fifth for Worthy and a seventh. Even in Solak's explanation, it's clear the Saints are doing the Chiefs a favor, but they're coming up with the short stick in compensation.
Solak praises Vele as the big body the Chiefs need and describes Worthy as a reclamation project, so you'd think it would at least be the Saints getting the higher pick in this exchange. If the Saints did deal Vele, they'd be better suited just going for just the draft pick and certainly better off avoiding this trade at all.
Devaughn Vele would be an interesting chess piece if Jordyn Tyson was healthier
If there was one positive about Tyson being out of commission for the first half of the season, it's Vele got a bigger spotlight. Vele was genuinely a quality player once he started to receiver targets last year. It's the reason Kellen Moore said he regretted not getting Vele involved in the offense earlier.
Once Tyson was drafted, he was naturally slotted as the WR2 behind Chris Olave. The duo was likely going to lead the Saints passing attack, but instead, Vele retained his role as WR2 with Tyson out of action. Vele has already surpassed his stats from 2025 and proven himself to be reliable in many ways.
Tyler Shough trusts Vele on third downs and has connected with him enough times for "3rd & Vele" to become a real and known thing among the fan base. The receiver is also a big body that can be used across the middle of the field and in the low red zone. Vele's releases at the line of scrimmage have been a thing of beauty, and one of his most notable was a touchdown against the Detroit Lions.
Who knows if we ever see these things if Tyson was able to play. It likely wouldn't have been at the same level if nothing else. That time also gave Vele time to build trade value.
However, it's hard to trade Vele because then the Saints will be pushed into a situation where they'll have to put their trust in Tyson. That's why they drafted him, but his inability to even get on the field yet makes putting all of the eggs in the Tyson basket not just risky but borderline foolish.
The Saints drafted three wide receivers in the draft. Those receivers have amounted to unable to get on the field, a clear work in progress and a primarily special teams threat. None of those descriptions say let's move on from one of two receivers on the roster that's productive.
Add us as a preferred source on Google