As the offseason continues to roll on, the Denver Broncos have done some slight tinkering with their roster after holding their rookie minicamp on Mother's Day Weekend.
Part of the roster tinkering included making a couple of roster cuts, and one of the players the Broncos let go of was former Dallas Cowboys draft pick Deuce Vaughn. Vaughn was signed to the Broncos' practice squad on September 9, near the beginning of the 2025 season. Despite the fact that he spent nearly all year with the Broncos on their practice squad, he may have squandered a golden opportunity to crack a rotation in the NFL.
The former 6th-round pick out of Kansas State will once again be looking for his next NFL opportunity after the Broncos replaced him on their 90-man roster with wide receiver Michael Woods II.
Denver Broncos move on from former Cowboys draft pick Deuce Vaughn after reloading RB room
So far in the 2026 offseason, the Broncos have made a number of fascinating moves at the running back position. After rumors that they could be interested in just about any and every free agent available, the Broncos opted to bring back veteran JK Dobbins, who was one of the best backs in the NFL last season before going down with a foot injury in Week 10.
Even with Dobbins's injury history, the team liked where he was at in his recovery process and took the leap of faith to re-sign him. Before that move even happened, the Broncos brought back Deuce Vaughn as one of their reserve/futures contract players, along with fellow running back Cody Schrader.
The Broncos also re-signed Jaleel McLaughlin and Tyler Badie this offseason before drafting Jonah Coleman out of Washington in the 3rd round. Suddenly, a running back room that lacked bodies became over-crowded, and Vaughn was determined to be the odd man out.
The fact that Vaughn never got a shot last season was a bit of a surprise, especially considering the Broncos struggled in multiple ways with their running game. Health was a concern, but so was general success. The Broncos couldn't find any semblance of consistency with their running game, and instead of giving Vaughn a shot late in the season when the opportunity might have made sense, he remained on the practice squad.
Not being able to even get a single practice squad elevation last year -- and teams have a couple of freebies to use for each player -- was a major indictment on Vaughn, especially because he had been with the team since early September.
Vaughn is 2nd in Kansas State history in all-time rushing yards and has more receptions and receiving yards than any other running back in the school's history. Considering Sean Payton's connection to Darren Sproles -- another fellow Kansas State alum -- it felt like fate that Vaughn ended up in Denver in the first place.
But he wasn't able to capitalize on the opportunity.
The Broncos are moving forward with their new stable of running backs, which is a pretty familiar group of names other than Schrader. It appears that in the battle for bottom-of-the-roster or practice squad candidates, Cody Schrader is a name to keep an eye on as the Broncos have already whittled down the room to six players ahead of the team's primary offseason work.
Add us as a preferred source on Google