Report: Broncos Sign WR De’Mornay Pierson-El

Pierson-El participated in this week's minicamp.

De’Mornay Pierson-El entered Dove Valley this week as an unsigned free agent. He's leaving as the newest Denver Bronco.

ESPN's Adam Schefter reports the Broncos on Friday signed Pierson-El — a wide receiver who auditioned amid this week's mandatory minicamp — to an undisclosed contract. The transaction was confirmed by 9News insider Mike Klis.

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Pierson-El, 25, is yet to appear in an NFL regular-season game. A 2018 undrafted free agent, he's bounced from the Canadian Football League (Montreal Alouettes) to the short-lived Alliance of American Football (Salt Lake Stallions) before landing with the then-Oakland Raiders in 2019.

That year, Pierson-El caught nine passes for 70 yards and one touchdown across four preseason appearances. The Raiders waived him at final cuts. He returned to now-Las Vegas in April 2020 following a three-month stint in the XFL (St. Louis BattleHawks) and was released last October.

Pierson-El played collegiately at Nebraska, posting 100 receptions for 1,309 yards and 11 TDs from 2014-17. A dynamic special-teamer, he totaled 825 yards on 67 punt returns and 147 yards on 10 kick returns, scoring three times during his freshman campaign.

Pierson-El has almost no chance of cracking the Broncos' final roster unless he unseats incumbent PR Diontae Spencer, a favorite of special teams coordinator Tom McMahon, who acknowledged in-house competition from "a bunch" of players.

"‘TB’ (WR Trinity Benson)—he’s in his third season now and doing a great job. [WR] Kendall Hinton has been back there catching a bunch. ‘Booney’ (RB Mike Boone) can catch from a kickoff return standpoint," McMahon said Wednesday. "[RB LeVante] Bellamy—kickoff return. Also, on kickoff return, [WR] Tyrie [Cleveland] did a great job for us last year in the two or three games that he had to return for us. He’s legit. We have a bunch of return guys. We have some guys that have been able to age a little but within the program. I can’t wait to see these guys compete. They are out there competing every day."

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