The New Orleans Saints placed Devaughn Vele on injured reserve earlier this week with a shoulder injury, meaning he'll miss the last three games of the season. With what he has shown lately, shutting Vele down was the right decision.
We know Vele’s injury is minor, so that removes fear of it being a long term ailment. That makes this decision lean more towards being precautionary than necessary. It’s a luxury Vele has earned over the last few weeks.
Additionally, you don't want to risk any further injury in a set of games that are low stakes. The last three games of this season are about building for 2026, and Vele has already shown he will be a big part of next year's offense
Saints don’t need to see anything more from DeVaughn Vele
It’s strange to say Vele has nothing to prove because he started the season so slowly. The criticism around the offseason trade for Vele was only to heightened by the lack of early production. It wasn’t until Rashid Shaheed AND Brandin Cooks were off the team that Vele began to be prioritized in the passing attack.
When Shaheed was traded nine games into the season, Vele only had five receptions for 39 yards. The week after the trade didn’t yield much better results. Vele was on the field more than any other receiver but still only had one catch.
After the Saints released Cooks, there was no option but to involve Vele, and he immediately made good on his inclusion. He led the Saints in receiving in two of the last three games. The only reason Vele didn't have the most receiving yards last week is because he went out with injury. Up to that point, he was clearly Tyler Shough's go to guy.
The stats are nice, but the reliability and chemistry between Shough and Vele is the true reason Vele can sit out the rest of the season. It's reckless to universally praise him off the back of just three games, but the intangibles tell the bigger story.
Vele has proven he can be the middle of the field threat and a consistent, viable threat in critical situations. Vele's receptions on third and long or the receptions to extend the drive and bleed clock against the Buccaneers are the biggest reason for excitement. He's shown obvious chemistry with the quarterback, and it shows at the most important times.