Saints’ Devaughn Vele has been inexplicably underutilized

By Ross Jackson

Acquired by the New Orleans Saints late in the offseason via trade, it was always expected that wide receiver Devaughn Vele would have to ramp up in usage throughout the season.

However, six weeks have now come and gone and Vele’s usage hasn’t seen much of an elevation or advancement.

Vele’s 2025 Snaps – Targets By Week

• Week 1 vs. Arizona Cardinals: 17 snaps, two targets
• Week 2 vs. San Francisco 49ers: 24 snaps, one target
• Week 3 at Seattle Seahawks: Inactive (hip)
• Week 4 at Buffalo Bills: Four snaps, no targets
• Week 5 vs. New York Giants: 25 snaps, two targets
• Week 6 vs. New England Patriots: 18 snaps, no targets

Acquiring Vele wasn’t cheap. The Saints sent a fourth-round 2026 selection and a seventh-round 2027 pick in order to acquire the 6-foot-5, 210 pound wideout. The price cost the team a pretty penny, but the expense was seen as potentially being worth it as Vele provided the Saints with a receiver that was built differently than the rest of the room. Vele was to be the big-bodied playmaker the team desperately needed among its otherwise smaller room when compared around the league.

However, his limited usage so far this season has been baffling. On his five targets so far this year, he’s reeled in all but one and has scored a touchdown down near the goal line, where the Saints have otherwise struggled.

A 6-foot-5 asset should be a go-to player in the red zone, but instead, New Orleans has often underutilized him in that area of the field. Of Vele’s five targets so far this season, two have been in the red zone. Both on goal-to-go situations from the three-yard-lines against the Cardinals (incomplete) and 49ers (touchdown). 

Vele also reeled in a big completion against the Patriots that was called back for a penalty.

More Devaughn Vele plz @Saints pic.twitter.com/fgLVTSXe6f

— kaj (@kadinjanisch) October 14, 2025

Head coach Kellen Moore compared the wideout’s trajectory to that of wide receiver Jahan Dotson whom his Philadelphia Eagles offense acquired last offseason on a similar timeline. Comparatively, the Saints might want to step on the gas a bit when it comes to ramping Vele up.

Through the first six games of the 2024 season, Dotson was targeted 12 times, reeling in six receptions. Vele, having been targeted just five times through five games, is well behind that pace.