Randy Gregory was a no-show from Buccaneers mandatory minicamp. With veterans set to report to Tampa Bay’s training camp on Tuesday, the status of the pass rusher is still unknown. During an appearance on The Sick Podcast, head coach Todd Bowles admitted that he’s uncertain if he’ll see Gregory on the first day of training camp.
“We have not had any conversations,” Bowles said (h/t Charean Williams of ProFootballTalk.com). “I expect him to be here, but we’ll see.”
Gregory inked a one-year deal with Tampa Bay earlier this offseason that could pay him up to $5MM, but the 31-year-old has already accrued more than $100K in fines thanks to his unexcused minicamp absence. It shouldn’t take Gregory very long to get acclimated with his new outside linebackers grouping. He worked under current Bucs OLB coach George Edwards when the two were in Dallas, so the veteran should at least be familiar with some of the defensive concepts.
The beginning of Gregory’s career was defined by suspensions. The former second-round pick has already been banned four times for violations of the NFL’s substance abuse policy. He’s avoided trouble in recent years, but his lack of availability will surely be top of mind as the Bucs staff evaluates the roster.
Gregory is also in the midst of a lawsuit against the NFL and the Broncos, where he played for one-plus seasons. Gregory claimed that he faced more than $500K in fines for taking medications that include THC. The suit alleges discrimination, with Gregory claiming he was denied a therapeutic use exemption.
The pass rusher’s six-sack campaign with the Cowboys in 2021 helped earn him a five-year contract from Denver. He didn’t last two seasons with his new squad, getting shipped to the 49ers last October. Gregory compiled 2.5 sacks in 12 games with San Francisco, and he got into each of the 49ers’ three playoff games.
The Buccaneers were counting on Gregory to soak up some edge snaps following Shaquil Barrett‘s departure. Joe Tryon-Shoyinka, Yaya Diaby, and Anthony Nelson are still around from last season, and the organization added Chris Braswell in the second round of this year’s draft. That four-man grouping should be more than capable, so the team may ultimately decide to cut their losses and move on from Gregory.
They’re better off letting him stay home and smoke weed and taking the 1.6 million dollar loss and accepting they made a bad decision. Toke on Randy, You know it’s your life bro.
He is a non guarantee so they will just cut him if he continues to not show up for camp and pre season.
Sounds like retirement.
He was a luxury at best but never going to be someone they rely on. He is failing and will be back looking for a job.
I still don’t understand why he’s penalizing the Buccaneers for something they had nothing to do with.
So he’s got a pending lawsuit against the Broncos… great. I haven’t read anything that suggests that he’s attempted to work out an agreement with the Bucs to avoid fines, or asked the Bucs to help him receive an exemption from the NFL. He just decided not to show up after signing a contract indicating he wanted to play for them.
He wants to sit on his couch and smoke dope. I doubt the Broncos situation has anything to with this.
Another pampered, out of touch, athlete who has no idea how blessed he was to get to play a game for a living. What a waste of a human being. No guys, pot doesn’t affect your life at all. This guy is about useless. Can’t get up off the couch to earn a few million dollars? That’s pretty sad
Brother, he’s not a waste of life. What would Jesus or Buddha say to you?
If I had talent enough to play in the NFL and I squandered it because I couldn’t be man enough to stop smoking pot and trying to rationalize it by lying to people’s faces then I expect either would laugh in my face and tell me to come back when I had cajones enough to take responsibility for my actions. It’s not like he’s been suspended 4 times (oh,yes he has), or fined (oh, yes he has). In my humble opinion he is stupid, bone deep stupid. He’s wasting his teams time and resources. Somewhere out there is a player who could have his spot who would give 100% of his time and energy to the team and this dude is taking that mans spot.
If weed is the issue, imho, he should’ve gotten it out of system in the off-season. Spend a couple of months getting high, lock the stuff away, and spend the next month in the gym. He probably only has a couple of years left to score some serious money.