The Denver Broncos made a pair of signings after their rookie minicamp, with Deuce Vaughn and Will Wright released.
The Denver Broncos have moved on from a pair of players this week, as they’ve announced that they’ve waived running back Deuce Vaughn and cornerback Will Wright, with the moves announced by Myles Simmons of Pro Football Talk.
The Broncos added receiver Michael Woods II and cornerback Paul Manning, so this was the concomitant roster move to make room for them.
Vaughn is the more significant of the two players. He made the Broncos practice squad last September, but did not appear in a regular season game and signed a futures deal with Denver in January.
The writing was on the wall for Vaughn in the offseason starting with the decision to re-sign J.K. Dobbins, and his fate was likely sealed when Denver drafted Jonah Coleman in the fourth round. The Broncos are hoping Coleman is the bigger back they’ve been looking for to run between the tackles, while Vaughn was never able to carve out a role for himself.
Vaughn is undersized at 5’5”, 180 pounds, and the Kansas State product definitely didn’t fit Denvers needs as the Broncos have more than their share of undersized running back.
Vaughn was originally drafted in the sixth round by the Dallas Cowboys back in 2023, and he’s appeared in 14 career games so far, gaining 110 yards rushing while catching ten passes for 58 yards. He’s still just 25, but the odds are against Vaughn catching on again due to his size
Wright played collegiately a Tennessee, and he was signed by the Broncos as an undrafted free agent right after the recent draft. His strengths include his athleticism and the fact that he’s not shy about contact, but he struggled with coverage consistency and Wright doesn’t have the size or skills to be a prototypical running back for a team like the Broncos that has a pair of entrenched starters and some productive backups.
As a result he was beaten out by Manning, which was surprising given that Manning came out of Henderson State. But the Broncos were impressed by Manning’s ability to stand out despite competing against a number Division I players, including Wright.
Wright’s future is slightly more optimistic than Vaughn’s but he’s hitting the market at a tough time. He’ll likely get a camp invite, but he’ll have to show more than he did with the Broncos. Wright was basically a depth piece at Tennessee, and he’ll be looking for a similar role in the NFL.