Closer Look: Randy Gregory current contract situation for Cowboys

lostxn

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By: K.D. Drummond | February 5, 2018 4:57 pm ET

The Cowboys have never experienced this before. Dallas has never had a high-pedigree draft pick miss the majority of two seasons due to suspension since the salary cap era begun. Randy Gregory played in just two games in 2016, the final two of the regular season. He missed all of 2017 after a new year-long ban.

The grumblings that happen around an organization with more leaks than a sponge in a garbage disposal bring up Gregory’s plight often. It feels like, despite the possibility the league could reinstate the former Nebraska star if he applies for it, the organization may not be too keen on welcoming him back. There have been no confirmations Gregory has failed another test since being banned last January. There was a report around last April’s draft he had failed or missed another test, but nothing ever followed up that TMZ report. Still, publicly, it doesn’t appear the Cowboys are holding even a sliver of hope he’ll be part of their plan moving forward.

For what it’s worth, Gregory is still part of the Cowboys salary cap picture. The CBA allows a team to cancel the guaranteed portion of a players contract if they get suspended, but the framework for Gregory still applies. After missing most of two seasons though, things aren’t as straight-forward as the four-year deal he signed in 2015 were at the time.

Under the 2011 CBA, all draft picks are signed to four-year deals. Gregory’s first year went in the books, but 2016 was interesting. Because he played in less than six games, Gregory did not accrue a season towards free agency. Although his contract was in place for the two games he participated in, he won’t get credit for a year of service.

That meant at the end of his contract after 2018, Gregory would be a restricted free agent rather than unrestricted. He would be subject to a similar situation as David Irving is now, where the club can place a tender on him and match any offer placed on him by another team.

However, that is now pushed back as well. Thanks to not playing at all in 2017, Gregory doesn’t not accrue a season towards free agency for the second consecutive year, it’s as if the year didn’t happen.

How this will play out is currently a matter for debate, as neither the CBA nor the NFL-NFLPA Drug and Substance Abuse Policy are clear.

One way this plays out is that since Gregory didn’t log a single snap in 2017, his contract tolls. That means the salary for 2017 is what he will make in 2018 (if reinstated) and his 2018 salary will now move to 2019. At that point, he would see restricted free agency, and if no long-term deal was made (with Dallas or a club signing him to an offer sheet) he would see unrestricted free agency in 2020.

The other way is that he simply didn’t receive any of his 2017 salary and that closes the book on that contract year. 2018 will play out as it is in his contract, and then at the conclusion of the year, Gregory would be an exclusive-rights free agent going into 2019. That would be because he’d be out of contract but only had two years of accrued service. This would then make Gregory a RFA in 2020, meaning the first year he’d be unrestricted wouldn’t be until 2021.

As an ERFA in 2019, Dallas would simply have to say they want him back, and he’d be a Cowboy the next season.

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I'm guessing the lack of discussion of this guy means he failed another test and the league is deciding whether to permaband him. These decisions never work in the player's favor. Either that or he hasn't but he's pissed the team off in other ways. Wish we could get some closure here.
 

Cowboysrock55

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I'm guessing the lack of discussion of this guy means he failed another test and the league is deciding whether to permaband him. These decisions never work in the player's favor. Either that or he hasn't but he's pissed the team off in other ways. Wish we could get some closure here.
Permaban for smoking pot. It's a ridiculous concept.

But honestly I wouldn't be surprised if the Cowboys are keeping hush hush on the situation because they don't want to piss Goodell off any more than they already have on Zeke. They realize that talking publicly about this stuff can do nothing but backfire on the team.
 

L.T. Fan

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Permaban for smoking pot. It's a ridiculous concept.

But honestly I wouldn't be surprised if the Cowboys are keeping hush hush on the situation because they don't want to piss Goodell off any more than they already have on Zeke. They realize that talking publicly about this stuff can do nothing but backfire on the team.
Put that way you may have an argument but a technical argument would be he is a perpetual nonconformist to rules. As a legal person surely you can understand that rules or laws are to be obeyed and if not then the party breaking the laws are subject to punishment.

Because the rules involve something that is a matter of personal sway doesn’t negate the the enforcement of the law or rule. The fact that he cannot leave pot alone makes him a perpetual violator of the rules. Until the rules are changed not only he but anyone else is subject to the same rule.
 

Cowboysrock55

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Put that way you may have an argument but a technical argument would be he is a perpetual nonconformist to rules. As a legal person surely you can understand that rules or laws are to be obeyed and if not then the party breaking the laws are subject to punishment.

Because the rules involve something that is a matter of personal sway doesn’t negate the the enforcement of the law or rule. The fact that he cannot leave pot alone makes him a perpetual violator of the rules. Until the rules are changed not only he but anyone else is subject to the same rule.
Not really in the legal world it would be like sending someone to life in prison because they refused to stop speeding.
 

L.T. Fan

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Not really in the legal world it would be like sending someone to life in prison because they refused to stop speeding.
Only if there was a law saying perpetual violation of speeding laws will be punishable by death.
 

Cotton

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Does it even matter?
 

boozeman

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Does it even matter?
Not really. Gregory being available or not should not even be on our thought radar.

If it is, that is just another example of what is wrong with this organization.
 

Cotton

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Not really. Gregory being available or not should not even be on our thought radar.

If it is, that is just another example of what is wrong with this organization.
Exactly. If he comes back clean and can maintain that status then great. But, we damn sure shouldn't be depending on it.
 

Smitty

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I think as fans we are allowed to hope and speculate on an outside chance that this guy can get his life together and return and have an impact cause of his talent. That's all articles like this are doing.

I don't think it means the team is counting on anything.
 

Cowboysrock55

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I think as fans we are allowed to hope and speculate on an outside chance that this guy can get his life together and return and have an impact cause of his talent. That's all articles like this are doing.

I don't think it means the team is counting on anything.
I'm rooting for Randy Gregory for no other reason than it's silly to destroy a man's career the way the NFL has. But I don't count him when I think of the future of this defense.
 

lostxn

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I'm rooting for Randy Gregory for no other reason than it's silly to destroy a man's career the way the NFL has. But I don't count him when I think of the future of this defense.
The sad truth is the guy is bipolar and feels that MJ helps him. I've known quite a few bipolar people who feel that way. The majority of the country is pro-legalization. Within 10 years, I expect the majority of states will embrace decriminalization. So, yeah, I think this sucks for him at the personal level.
 

junk

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It will be like an extra first round pick whenever he gets to come back.
 
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