In a bit of a surprise, Denver is sending Devaughn Vele to New Orleans in exchange for a 4th and 7th round pick.
The wide receiver room had grown quite deep in Denver. Courtland Sutton leads the way fresh with a new extension, and the team had gotten quite young by using a 2nd round pick on Marvin Mims in 2023, 4th and 7th round picks in 2024 on Troy Franklin and Vele, and a 3rd round pick in 2025 on Pat Bryant. Add to this signing Trent Sherfield in free agency, ostensibly for special teams purposes, and the possible emergency of an undrafted free agent in Courtney Jackson, and one could possibly see a trade from this depth being feasible.
But most who follow the Broncos would not have expected Vele to getting traded, as he was understood to be a likely starter and WR3 on the team. However, this would make a little more sense if one watched last Saturday’s preseason game against the Cardinals. Vele did not play at all, while all of Franklin, Bryant, and Sherfield impressed in a Broncos rout of the Cardinals second stringers, but also with playing alongside Jarrett Stidham and the second string offensive line.
There is also the unavoidable factor that, despite this being the start of only his second season, Vele will already be turning 28 in December. Thus, it is possible that his NFL career might be shorter than that of Franklin (age 22) and Bryant (turning 23 in December). Sherfield, meanwhile, would have been a difficult player to trade, because he is on the fringe of qualifying as a compensatory free agent, and trading for CFAs counts against teams as a player “signed”, therefore many teams with comp picks on the line would have been wary against trading for him.
That the Saints were the team to trade for him is a bit unexpected, since most observers believe that they are in for a rough season given their massive reset at quarterback, and their wide receiver depth is good as well with Chris Olave, Rashid Shaheed, Brandin Cooks, and Cedrick Wilson Jr. on the roster. But certainly relations remain strong with Sean Payton and Mickey Loomis that likely made the trade easy to seal.
With this trade, the Broncos will have at least seven picks in the 2026 NFL Draft–they gain New Orleans’s 4th, but also traded their 6th rounder to the Jets for John Franklin-Myers. They could also add anywhere from zero to three 7th round comp picks, depending on the snap counts of Sherfield, and former Broncos Javonte Williams, Riley Dixon, and Tremon Smith. For all of those players, special teams snaps do not count, and for Dixon there will be a boost based on the quantity (number of punts) and quality (number inside the 20) made in 2025. In 2027, the Broncos have their whole slate of original draft picks, plus now the Saints’ 7th.