Randy Gregory agreed to a five-year, $70 million deal with the Cowboys that included $28 million in guaranteed money. The Cowboys announced the deal Tuesday.
At some point after that, things went sideways.
That much is fact.
The details that explain the reason Gregory changed his mind — agreeing to the same deal with the Broncos — apparently is a source of discord.
Gregory’s camp, via Ed Werder of ESPN, balked on salary forfeiture language they learned was in the deal after the defensive end agreed. The Broncos did not request the clause.
“Voiding a guarantee because a guy gets fined is not in any contract with any other team in the league,” Werder quotes a source as saying.
The Cowboys’ side, via Clarence Hill of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, is the clause is standard language in every contract they execute aside from quarterback Dak Prescott. It gives the club the right to void or withhold guaranteed or bonus money if player is fined by NFL, but the Cowboys have never invoked the clause, which, they say, was in Gregory’s rookie contract signed in 2015.
Whatever the case, Gregory had a change of heart, and the Cowboys now are in search of a pass rusher to replace him.