Cowboys Reveal Perfectly Clear Reason For Decision To Cut Deuce Vaughn

It was one of the stories of the offseason in 2023, when the Dallas Cowboys drafted running back Deuce Vaughn, with his father, Chris, a scout for the team, able to deliver the news that his son would be coming to work with him.

Unfortunately, the past two seasons have seen Deuce be lost in the running back depth chart, and we have said for a while around here that there isn't anything Vaughn does better than the current backs on the roster.

Yes, he flashes in training camp and preseason games, but he can't do more when the regular season rolls around, often a healthy game-day scratch, and in Brian Schottenheimer's roster cuts, Deuce did not survive it, as many expected.

“Had a great conversation with Deuce,” Schottenheimer said. “Such an incredible young man, those are the hard ones. But you have real conversations, sometimes a change of scenery is a good thing. If that's what he decides, then we certainly support that in terms of however the practice squad thing plays itself out. But I could not speak enough great things about Deuce and the type of football player he is.

With Javonte Williams, Miles Sanders, Jaydon Blue, Phil Mafah and even Hunter Luepke ahead of him, it was always going to be an uphill challenge for Vaughn to make the 53-man roster.

And Schottenheimer revealed exactly why Deuce was cut.

"You can't just be an offensive or defensive player," Schottenheimer added. "You have to have other roles, do multiple things. Unfortunately, the special teams part of it when you're a third or fourth runner, if you don't have other roles and you're doing those roles at a high level, then unfortunately you become a guy that you're on the bubble and then decisions have to be made in terms of who's going to help us win games in more than one phase.”

So, Vaughn was a one-trick pony as a runner, and going by Schottenheimer's words, wasn't a good enough special teamer to make the 53-man roster over other players on the bubble.

A feel-good story if there ever was one in the NFL, but Deuce's fairytale with the Cowboys, after two seasons, comes to an end.