Given a day to process the Devaughn Vele trade move and prepare his remarks, Broncos coach Sean Payton explained the combination of interest in Vele and a need to narrow down the receiver room led to the deal.

After using a seventh-round draft pick to select Utah wide receiver Devaughn Vele last year, the Denver Broncos ' general manager has traded the 27-year-old wide receiver to the New Orleans Saints in exchange for fourth- (2026) and seventh-round (2027) draft picks.

Sean Payton has traded dozens of players in decades of coaching. He said trading Devaughn Vele to the Saints was as tough as trading Darren Sproles: