The Denver Broncos didn't place a waiver claim on former Texans draft pick Dameon Pierce, who could have been the perfect replacement for the injured JK Dobbins. The free agency crop is rather uninspiring, but it felt fortuitous that Pierce would not only be waived by the Texans after the NFL trade deadline, but that he would also clear waivers and be eligible to sign as a free agent.
The Broncos apparently had interest in signing Pierce, but they didn't win the recruiting battle. Instead, it was their division rivals -- the Kansas City Chiefs -- who managed to sway Pierce to sign in this big-time playoff run.
The Broncos let a division rival steal a perfect solution to their running back depth issues right in front of their faces.
Dameon Pierce spurns Broncos to sign with Chiefs' practice squad
Broncos were in strong on former Texan RB Dameon Pierce per source. Not surprising as they could use a physical-type back with J.K. Dobbins down. Pierce instead has agreement with Chiefs’ practice squad.
— MikeKlis9NEWS (@mikeklis9news) November 24, 2025
Pierce is a talented back who is just 25 years old and had fallen out of favor with the new coaching staff in Houston. Back in the 2022 season, Pierce was one of the most impressive rookies in the entire NFL, rushing for over 900 yards and racking up over 1,100 yards from scrimmage.
Since that time, he's been relegated to backup duties, but you still felt like the talent was there if he could just get a change of scenery. Well, the Chiefs are fixing to find out. Kansas City has been having injury issues of their own at running back with Isiah Pacheco missing the first couple of games coming out of their bye.
We saw Clyde Edwards-Helaire up from the practice squad for them. and Kareem Hunt obviously has a very specific and limited role at this stage.
The Broncos, on the other hand, have second-round pick RJ Harvey ready to take carries left behind by the injured JK Dobbins, along with Jaleel McLaughlin and Tyler Badie. It's clear by the fact that they didn't claim him off of waivers that the Broncos were not desperate to have Dameon Pierce, but as a bigger back, he could have provided some necessary variance to the running back stable.
Unfortunately, the Chiefs made the more compelling pitch for the time being, although the glimmer of hope is that he's merely on their practice squad, and could be signed to another team's 53-man roster at any point in time. The Broncos could still go after him if they want, but their inactivity at running back throughout the bye week is more telling than anything.
Does this team agree that they need help at running back? They may have been interested in Pierce, but as far as we know, he's the only back they've been sniffing around. It will be interesting to see if there is a response move or if the Broncos just stick with the guys they've got for now.