Exclusive: Cowboys DE Randy Gregory to apply for NFL re-entry
Sources tell Mike Fisher of the Cowboys on 247Sports that Gregory is mere days away.
For what seems like a football eternity, I have answered questions from Dallas Cowboys fans regarding the reinstatement status of defensive end Randy Gregory by saying his No. 1 concern has been to become not just a "better football player'' but rather, a better-functioning human being.
We are, multiple sources tell me, days away from both concepts dovetailing into Gregory's application to the NFL for reinstatement.
"It's not how you start, it's how you finish,'' Gregory recently commented on social media. "Patience is key.''
Gregory, the gifted Nebraska defensive end selected by Dallas in the second round of the 2015 NFL Draft despite its knowledge of his substance-use issue, has been banned from the league for repeated violations of the league's substance-abuse policy. He hasn't played since the Cowboys' final game of the 2016 season. ... and yet the Cowboys hang on, in part because of the potential of the 6-5, 255-pound edge rusher, in part because of the position demonstrated by Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, who believes in both second chances and in Gregory's intelligence and qualities as a person.
Those qualities will be at the fore of Gregory's upcoming presentation to the office of NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, I'm told -- a petition for his reinstatement that could come as early as May 1, as also noted by my colleague Bobby Belt. A case will be built that Gregory, still just 25 and loaded with potential at football's second-most important position, has spent a great deal of time adhering to a rehab program in California, working at a "civilian'' job in Dallas, relying on his background as a product of a loving home, and demonstrating his character as a devoted father to his young child.
It is the on-the-record position of Cowboys COO Stephen Jones that the team operates under a "worst-case scenario'' mindset in regard to Gregory, but that position should not be misconstrued; it's not that the Cowboys lack faith in him -- it's that by NFL rule the club can have very limited contact with him and therefore isn't supposed to be privy to his status.
And, of course, the employer can wish for Gregory to get his life in order but cannot operate its business under the assumption that he will.
So the Cowboys plow away with their pursuit of defensive linemen, giving DeMarcus Lawrence the franchise tag, giving David Irving a second-round tender, giving recent first-round pick Taco Charlton snaps, and giving thought to selecting yet another pass-rusher like Harold Landry in a premium round in next week's NFL Draft.
Meanwhile, in the days immediately following the NFL Draft, Randy Gregory -- with a series of failed marijuana tests dotting his record and limiting him to two games played in the last two seasons -- will ask to be given something, too.
Another chance.
Mike Fisher @fishsports