Before the regular season began, the New Orleans Saints made a surprising trade to acquire WR Devaughn Vele for a future 4th-round pick. This was a smart move due to the lack of depth and contested catch threats in the Saints’ WR room, but trading future picks is always a risk with a “rebuilding” team. With Vele’s addition and signing former Buccaneers WR Trey Palmer to the 53-man roster, the Saints had a really strong WR group going into the season. Still, with Chris Olave nearing a contract year,
Rasheed Shaheed entering a contract year, and Brandin Cooks getting older, New Orleans’ future at WR is a bit worrying. Well, with this breaking news, the Saints may be adding some future help to aid in the depth being lost after this season. Today, the New Orleans Saints have traded a future 6th-round pick to the Patriots for WR Ja’Lynn Polk and a future 7th-round pick, per Dianna Russini.
With the Saints’ current WR depth, the team really did not need to add another player to this room, but Polk is going to be out for the rest of the season. Trading for an injured player is always an unusual move, but it’s clear that the team is trying to buy low and hopefully acquire an impact player for the future. Polk was a 2nd round pick by the Patriots in the 2024 NFL Draft, but never lived up to those expectations. Now, with a fresh new start, Polk will have the opportunity to rebuild that confidence and become a future part of the New Orleans Saints.
