Velus Jones Jr. has a new home. The 33rd Team’s Ari Meirov reports the recently-waived New Orleans Saints running back and former Chicago Bears third-round draft pick is signing with the Seattle Seahawks, reuniting him with some familiar coaches; he didn’t overlap with them in New Orleans last year (Jones was with the Carolina Panthers in 2024) but he worked with former Saints coaches like Andrew Janocko in Chicago.
Now he has a new opportunity in the Pacific Northwest on a team competing for a division title. Jones mainly played special teams with the Saints and had the second-most kick return yardage on the team (183) behind Kendre Miller (393), who is out for the season with a knee injury. It’ll have to be someone else handling those duties. We saw rookie running back and second-year wide receiver mason Tipton do so against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the wake of Jones’ release.
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Jones just wasn’t much of a factor on offense, but maybe he should have been. He has real straight-line speed and might have been able to help add some juice to a unit which ranks last in the NFL for gains of 20 or more yards. The Saints have done that on just 13 plays this season. No other offense has fewer than 19, and the league average is twice that. Ex-Saints offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak’s Seahawks, Jones’ new team, are tied for second-most at 33. It’s a little disappointing that the Saints never even gave Jones an opportunity to make a play with the ball in his hands on offense, but that’s in the past now. Some combination of Alvin Kamara, Neal, and practice squad running back Audric Estime will have to see them through.
This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: Report: Seahawks sign former Saints, Bears RB Velus Jones Jr.