Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - Denver Broncos TRADE Devaughn Vele to New Orleans Saints

Starting point is 00:00:00 Breaking news as the Denver Broncos have traded wide receiver Devon Valet to the New Orleans. We're going to tell you why they fleece New Orleans on today's bonus episode, Locked on Broncos. You are locked on Broncos. Your daily Denver Broncos podcast. Part of the Locked on podcast network, your team every day. We hope you didn't have Devon, Veilay and Sharpie as wide receiver two on your Denver Broncos roster predictions here as we approach cut down day. But the Broncos have made a move. country, Devon Valle, going to the New Orleans Saints. We got a lot to talk about what the Broncos got in return, which a pretty nice hall for them.

Starting point is 00:00:43 And what this means for the wide receiver group moving forward. But I want to just say thank you to all of you for making Lockdown Broncos your first listen of the day every single day. My name is Sayre Bredinger alongside Cody Rourke. And we are your co-hosts here of Lockdown Broncos every single day as well. Part of the Lockdown podcast network your team every day. And Cody, this is why the folks, be subscribed, right? Because you never know when the Broncos are going to hit us with some breaking news. I've just finished eating some supper. You know what I'm saying? And you give me a call.

Starting point is 00:01:14 This is why you got to be on your toes with Sean Payton. You never know when the smoke's going to be coming up out of the building. But Devon Vele no longer part of this team. Kind of crazy. The team officially announcing that he was traded to the New Orleans Saints. Let's first talk about this return here. I think the Broncos got a really good haul, maybe an offer they couldn't refuse for Devon Vey. I mean, yeah, when you go back and you factor in that Devon Valey was initially a seventh round pick last year. The New Orleans Saints in 2026 for him and a 2026, seventh round. I mean, 27th round pick. That is, that's something that you absolutely have to take here. Sarah. You get two additional draft capital picks for one player who, look, I think has some great upside. He's going to add some value, I think, right away to what the Saints want to do offensively down there. Gives him a big body target. You know, that can maybe spell and take some pressure off of Crystal Lava, who's going to see a lot of attention. The ability to move Velae around a little bit is going to be good for New Orleans.

Starting point is 00:02:12 But for the Broncos, it really is a sign of them saying, hey, we're going to get draft capital here. We already knew we were going to have to make a tough decision. You know, when it comes to roster cuts next week, Velae was kind of in that consideration, as you and I kind of have talked about on social media this week. We actually, funny enough, Broncos Country recorded an episode about three players who have the most approved Saturday's finale.

Starting point is 00:02:34 we had Vailay on that. So we're going to have to change that up here. Obviously going forward into tomorrow's episode of the show. But for Denver to get this value, I think is good. Like George Payton once again, put the memes out there, stunting on people. The Broncos get good capital in return for a player who's going to have an impact elsewhere. And it kind of really kind of solidifies this Broncos wide receiver room going into 2025. It definitely does.

Starting point is 00:03:01 And it's a great trade for George Payton. Obviously, you know, he struck a. similar trade. I can't say it's overly comparable. It's comparable in terms of the compensation coming back. But you remember the Trinity Benson trade with Detroit where he got a fifth and seventh, I believe very, very similar to this hall of a fourth and a seventh for Devon Valle. Now, the fourth round pick is going to be in the 2026 draft. The seventh round pick is in the 2027 NFL draft. So separate years there. But those are lottery tickets in the seventh round that you always want to have as a GM in case you want to make deals like this. Like the Broncos,

Starting point is 00:03:34 could be in position to do something like this. But now they have five selections in the top four rounds of next year's draft, Cody, which gives you ample flexibility, of course. And to get rid of a player like Devon Vele, yes, it is tough. But at the same time, he's 27 going on 28 this year. You and I have discussed that and why that's kind of an odd tension in Broncos country about whether or not he has a viable long-term future with the team. And I think just Troy Franklin, Pat Bryant, those guys were too good this office.

Starting point is 00:04:04 season to really justify, like you and I have talked, you got to dress all six guys if you're going to keep them. Well, the Broncos instead decided, hey, Valet, he might be able to be the second wide receiver or third wide receiver in New Orleans. We're going to give him that opportunity while giving these other younger guys an opportunity in Denver. Sean Payton said it last week during a post practice presser that he didn't mention wide. I think he actually mentioned wide receiver specifically.

Starting point is 00:04:30 He said, we're going to have the situation where one of these guys is on a 53 somewhere else. I think really that was kind of like the smoke. And it's like, all right, there's smoke. Where is that coming from? Is there fire burning here a little bit? You start to see some of the injuries pop around. You start to see some of the inquiries some teams were making about wide receiver. And immediately it's like, oh, our ears perked up. Devon Bailey is probably the more likely guy. Did not play in that second preseason game, which some people were saying it's an indicator that he's a starter, whereas it really wasn't the case that. That was, hey, we want to protect him because we may be working on something here. But this, I want to be very,

Starting point is 00:05:04 very clear here. This has nothing to do with anything that Devon Vele did or didn't do. This has everything to do with the emergence of rookie Pat Bryant, the impact where he's kind of picked things up in the offense very, very quickly. And the second year leap that we have seen here from Troy Franklin, as I've kind of detailed and noted over at Milehysports.com in my written columns, we've seen a lot of Pat Bryant and Troy Franklin with Bow Nixon, Cortland, Sutton, over the course of the last couple of weeks. Not to say that that's an indicator because we know Sean has liked to rotate guys, but that's usually the first week, week and a half of training camp practice,

Starting point is 00:05:41 maybe going into those two weeks of camp there. It has been clear as day that Bryant and Franklin have overtaken Velae, who has missed some time, has missed some time during practice, you know, and obviously mandatory mini camp, but this has everything to do with the emergence of those guys and not necessarily anything that Vela did or didn't do. Absolutely. So for any Saints fans that may stumble upon this content because they're wondering about Devon Veil,

Starting point is 00:06:06 we have nothing but really positive things to say, right? I mean, obviously 41 catches last year, 26 first downs, big body receiver. He can move the chains. He proved to be a much more reliable target than, well, a lot of the other guys on the Denver Broncos roster last year, quite frankly. But obviously, when you have other guys emerging in the offseason and like you mentioned, Troy Franklin and Pat Bryant, Cody, not only are those guys making plays when the ball comes their way, but they're doing the dirty work as well. There's a lot of film review out there from you and others showing that these guys are willing to block

Starting point is 00:06:37 and they are physical. So the Broncos got a couple of guys breaking through this off season. I wouldn't say it was necessarily unexpected, but this goes to show that what Sean Payton said back in January, February, about the wide receiver room was true. Like he's like, I don't think the receiver room is as bad as people are saying, right? And now you have very much so proof of them. that because the Saints really liked what they saw enough in Velae last year.

Starting point is 00:07:02 There's nothing on tape from this year's preseason. So they're going basically strictly on what he did last year. Velae is obviously impressed around the league with what he was able to do and what he can do as a big slot, which is going to be obviously important to Kellan Moore and those guys. So I think for the Broncos, we say it's a fleece because we didn't expect to get a fourth and something else, right? Cody, you and I were talking on the episode we were doing for tomorrow.

Starting point is 00:07:28 it would be, I mean, maybe a can't miss deal if it was a fifth rounder coming back. Yeah, and look, I think you always wonder what those numbers are going to look like. And Don Peyton said it even just, I think, a couple of days ago after practice that we filled calls. And sometimes the conversation is, what are you looking for? And we look at it. What are we looking for? What does the compensation look like? And for both sides, this makes sense.

Starting point is 00:07:52 And really for the Saints who are trying to figure out their quarterback competition between Tyler Shuck. and obviously Spencer Rattler, to me, I view this as more of Devon Valet could be a QB-proof type of player for them over there in New Orleans where he can go out there and make plays. And of course, they got to see Valay last year, you know, even though Darren Rizzi was the interim head coach. That Saints Brass got to see a lot of Velae in that game. He had some impactful catches there from Bo Nix on Thursday night football. But, yeah, I mean, for Denver to get this, now it allows them to have flexibility in terms of capital going into next year where we know from a staff. salary cap standpoint, they're going to be in much better shape, considering that that 33 million of that dead cap from Russell Wilson's deal, that impacts this year. It's off the books next year.

Starting point is 00:08:37 Denver's got a lot of flexibility. And right now, they could strike while the iron is hot in terms of being able to maximize where they're at. If they have a big season this year, if the Broncos go deeper in the playoffs, and the excitement around this team is going to be entirely different than it already is right now. And, you know, one of which Devon Valet, the best was always great in the locker room. he's going to be a nice piece to add to the mix over there in New Orleans. And now really the question becomes, Sarah, and we'll talk about this. What does the wide receiver room look like here for this Broncos football team going into 2025 with the move with Devon Valey? We'll talk about those roles and more. You're on today's episode, Locked on Broncos.

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Starting point is 00:11:21 Fantasy.com slash locked on NFL. The Broncos have five guys at their wide receiver position. Are they going to add more? Are they done? Are they solidified for this coming season? We think that they've got their top five and that it's going to be pretty set in stone, but you never know when somebody else might come along and join the fray. Welcome Broncos country to a breaking news episode of the show.

Starting point is 00:11:43 Of course, we're so appreciative of every single one of you tuning in. every day here at Lockdown Broncos. Don't forget to take a couple seconds if you haven't already done so. Hit subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts as well as on YouTube and join the community. Get us at the top of your algorithm so you don't miss episodes like this one that come out. It's, uh, Cody, it does seem like the Broncos. Sean Payton kind of likes five players at wide receiver. I know that sometimes you'll add more if you're dealing with injuries,

Starting point is 00:12:09 but I think this is now going to potentially be the third year in a row that he's gone with five receivers on his 53. man roster to start the year. Now, we know that can fluctuate going, you know, throughout the season. But certainly this is a way that he likes to go about assembling the 53 man. It's going to have interesting implications, not only at wide receiver, but other positions as well. Yeah, I'm very curious to see what the ripple effect is going to be because I think right now we can safely say that the five guys here from Denver's wide receiver core, I think we could probably solidify it on the 53. I know, Cortland Sutton, Marvin Mims, Pat Bryant, Troy Franklin, Trent Sherfield, Jr. That's

Starting point is 00:12:46 it. I don't see them keeping six now because you and I've had this conversation to keep six. Vele is that sixth guy. I don't see there being anybody right now, even one of these undrafted guys who I think the undrafted crop of players, they've had a tremendous offseason here. I do not think that they're going to factor into this equation here. Five guys is it. And when you factor what Evan Ingram can do with the tight end, essentially he's your, you have six receivers in terms of volume, athleticism, high trade impact, things like that. But I think realistically, speaking now. With that being said here, Sarah, what do the, what do the roles of this wide receiver room look like here? As we've heard Sean Payton say it as well, he doesn't necessarily believe in pecking

Starting point is 00:13:26 order. He believes in roles. We know Cortland's role. He's going to be the big X. He's going to move around the slot. But what do you see from guys like Marvin Mims, Troy Franklin, Pat Bryant, and Sherfield in terms of the roles that they could play? I feel like all of them can kind of play different and versatile roles, right? I mean, we know that Marvin can play on the outside, but also be used as a gadget player. We've seen Troy Franklin be used on the outside, but I think he can also play in the slot. And I think Pat Bryant can play that big slot role as well with his physicality and just the way that he kind of is able to hide himself in the thickness of, you know, hey, we're, we got linebackers here, you got a safety here, you got a slot corner here. He can find those soft spots playing from that slot position. And so I just think you have a bunch of guys who can play a lot of different spots for you and be assets there and kind of disguise what you're trying

Starting point is 00:14:18 to do, right? And so that's what's really helpful here is that the Broncos have those guys that, okay, yeah, you're not just pigeonholed into one spot. You can play different areas of this offense and excel at those areas, but we can also kind of mask what we're doing because of your skill set, right? Because Troy Franklin, he can burn you. Marvin Mims, he can burn you. But those guys also, I think, I mean, Marvin led the team in yards after.

Starting point is 00:14:43 the catch and Sean Peyton said earlier this off season, Troy Franklin might have an underrated skill that we have yet to unleash in terms of his after the catch ability. So you've got to respect him deep. That's when you can hit them underneath. And so a lot of fun opportunities here, I think, for Sean Peyton and the Broncos. I think everything we've seen from Troy and from Pat Bryant in the preseason throughout training camp is a great indicator of how they'll be used because, yes, these guys aren't just limited to one spot. And I think probably Marvin is going to be the more unique player overall because you mentioned the outside, you mentioned the slot, but we know his role in the backfield. I mean, there's four different roles offensively that Marvin can play here for Sean.

Starting point is 00:15:22 So he is kind of that, that gadget, as you mentioned. And I don't want to use gadget as like a limitation is like he's only a gadget player. Marvin can do more than what we have seen. I think Sean's going to unleash that, but it's when you can put Cortland in the slot at times, isolate him in a matchup against a smaller nickel defender or depending on the personnel, maybe a linebacker where Cortland's bigger, faster, stronger. You could do the same thing with Troy, with Marvin, with Pat. And then don't even get me started with Evan Ingram and the move around ability as that Joker

Starting point is 00:15:52 where he could do a little bit of everything in the backfield underneath, across the middle, vertically to the outside. This is playing out to be kind of like Sean Payton's like perfect storm. He's like a mad scientist right now. He's like, ah, this week I can do this with this guy. It opens things up here for this Broncos offense. I'm excited about it. But I mean, Sarah, this wide receiver room,

Starting point is 00:16:15 it's going to be fun to watch this year. Having been at all these practices, there is something that just feels different about this position group. Bow in his second year, Sean, with the confidence he has, and with the element of there being an emphasis on getting the run game going, if that happens, if that takes off, this Broncos offense is going to be a scary one here in 2025. With that said, Broncos Country,

Starting point is 00:16:36 we appreciate you for tuning in to this bonus episode, locked on Broncos. Catch Sarah and I tomorrow. as we talk about three players, including Audrakeesda May, who have the most to prove in a final audition against the New Orleans Saints on Saturday. Make sure you check that out. Wherever you get your podcast or on YouTube.

Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - Denver Broncos TRADE Devaughn Vele to New Orleans Saints

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