Football coaches are typically pretty consistent when commenting on players who don’t show up for training camp. They’re concerned with the guys who are there working and practicing.
That was the view Tampa Bay Buccaneers Todd Bowles took with edge rusher Randy Gregory, who reached an agreement with the team to be released this week. Gregory never reported to training camp nor attended mandatory minicamp practices after filing a discrimination lawsuit against the NFL and the Denver Broncos.
If that’s why Gregory never reported, that doesn’t matter to Bowles because he was never told if the linebacker’s absence was motivated by his lawsuit.
“I’ll never find out, but I wish him the best and we’ll move on from there,” Bowles told ESPN’s Jenna Laine. “Can’t miss what you never had.”
Bowles went on to explain that the team has depth at outside linebacker, including players who could still make the team, and should be fine without Gregory.
Bucs coach Todd Bowles on the pass rush: “That’s the one good thing that showed up on defense. Obviously there were a lot of missed tackles in the run game. Not pleased with that. Not pleased with third down, but we got 5.0 sacks. Doesn’t count in the loss, but the young guys…
— JennaLaineESPN (@JennaLaineESPN) August 18, 2024
Gregory, 32, signed a one-year free agent deal with the Buccaneers in April. Last season, he played 12 games for the San Francisco 49ers after being traded by the Broncos. He totaled 3 1/2 sacks and 20 tackles, six tackles for loss and 10 quarterback hits.
Tampa Bay was hoping Gregory could bolster a pass rush that totaled 48 sacks last season, tied for ninth among NFL teams. (Yaya Diaby led the team with 7 1/2 sacks.) The defense lost linebacker Shaquil Barrett, who was released as a salary cap cut, and had 4 1/2 sacks in 2023. (Barrett eventually retired before training camp with the Miami Dolphins this summer.)
In the lawsuit, Gregory claimed he was being discriminated against by not being allowed to continue taking a medication with THC in it to alleviate social anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder. Players testing positive for THC are no longer suspended by the league, but can be fined since it’s still on the NFL’s list of banned substances.
Altogether, Gregory missed 24 days of training camp and three mandatory offseason practices and fined nearly $1.4 million for those absences. The Buccaneers can also take back a percentage of his signing bonus, according to ESPN.
