Which Saints WRs are in danger with Devaughn Vele trade?

By Ross Jackson

It has been a big need for the New Orleans Saints’ offense all offseason: the big-bodied wide receiver. It took a trade to get it done, but acquiring wide receiver Devaughn Vele creates a major shakeup across the team’s wideout room.

While locks like Chris Olave, Rashid Shaheed, Brandin Cooks and at this point Mason Tipton still feel like sure things, the uncertainty for the rest of the room just became very real.

Vele is likely to make the roster. You don’t give up draft capital for a player and then accept them not being able to make the 53. So with five wideouts effectively solidified to this point, it leaves some of the veterans that were added this offseason on the outside looking in.

Cedrick Wilson Jr.

Wideout Cedrick Wilson Jr. was returning to the team this year and reuniting with head coach Kellen Moore who was his offensive coordinator with the Dallas Cowboys years ago. Now, he looks to be on the outskirts as a potential big slot option. The former Broncos wideout took 69.5% of his snaps from the slow last year, per Pro Football Focus.

Donovan Peoples-Jones

It’s been a quiet offseason for the free agent acquisition who impressed during his tryout and through minicamps and OTAs. However, since training camp began, the veteran wideout has been quiet. In last week’s preseason game, he didn’t take a single snap. If Peoples-Jones ends up on the practice squad, that might be the best-case scenario for him.

Kevin Austin Jr.

While Austin has been gaining momentum as of late, Vele’s addition is a sure sign that the Saints are looking for more. Austin is one of the team’s few prototypical X-receivers. But with New Orleans going another direction so close to roster cuts, that could signal that Austin may be long for the practice squad again this year.

Dante Pettis

Pettis may have the strongest argument to still make the roster or at least hold a prime practice squad role where he’ll be often elevated. He caught a series of big passes in last week’s preseason tie with the Jacksonville Jaguars including the pivotal touchdown. However, it could be his special teams acumen as a returner that gives him the most reliable path to hanging on.