Two days before the 49ers face the Dallas Cowboys, they acquired a former Cowboys star who shunned them a year ago in free agency.
According to multiple reports, the first of which came from NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, the 49ers have acquired Denver Broncos outcast Randy Gregory, who the team was reportedly planning to cut a year after signing a five-year, $70 million deal a year ago.
The 49ers will exchange late-round picks with the Broncos, sending a 2024 sixth-round pick and receiving Gregory and a seventh-round pick. As it stands (per Tankathon’s compensatory pick projections) that would be the 208th pick for the 227th pick. It will likely be a less than 30-pick difference by season’s end.
Gregory had seen reduced playing time with a terrible Broncos defense, and both sides had reportedly mutually agreed to part ways. But with an offer on the table, the Broncos pivoted.
On paper, it is a massive move, which gives the 49ers a potential starting defensive line of Nick Bosa-Arik Armstead-Javon Hargrave-Randy Gregory. It’s hard to think of a better group in the league.
That’s with second-year edge rusher Drake Jackson and former top-five pick Clelin Ferrell also in the rotation, along with Javon Kinlaw, and other pieces like Kevin Givens, Kalia Davis and Kerry Hyder Jr. in the mix.
San Francisco also has veterans Austin Bryant and T.Y. McGill on the practice squad, with rookie Robert Beal Jr. on PUP, available to return at any point this season if healthy and needed.
If you’re curious about the money, the 49ers have (or had) the most cap space in the NFL, north of $41 million before this deal.
Gregory’s pro-rated bonus money of $8.4 million over this and the next four seasons is covered by the Broncos.
… as is the almost the entirety of his salary this season.
The Broncos are taking on most of his remaining $10 million, except for the prorated $1.08 million pro-rated minimum, which is $840,000.
If the Broncos had not taken on that salary, Gregory would have an expected, pro-rated cap hit of $10.5 million for the rest of the season, assuming his contract does not included provisions for a 17th game (Nick Bosa’s does, but most deals do not).
That would have left the 49ers with about $30 million in cap space, which John Lynch has said the team intends to roll over into next season.
So while the 49ers had the money to acquire a star player, they end up getting Gregory for roughly $1 million, and swapping their likely late sixth-round pick for an expected early seventh-round pick.
This doesn’t mean San Francisco is locked into Gregory’s contract, either. He has a $13.75 million base salary next year and $12.75 million in each of the following two seasons. None of that money will be guaranteed on the 49ers’ end. They can walk away from his deal if they so choose.
It also means if he plays well, they can work with him to restructure it, much like they did this offseason with Christian McCaffrey, who had three years of mostly non-guaranteed money left heading into this year.
Gregory signed that deal with the Broncos after reportedly agreeing to the same contract with the Cowboys, then spurning Dallas, reportedly over contract language involving future fines and suspensions. He played just six games with Denver last season before ending up on injured reserve with a knee issue. He underwent offseason knee surgery in 2022.
That language was especially relevant because Gregory has had troubles off the field. He was suspended a the first four games of 2017, and later, 10 games, for a second substance-abuse policy violation. He tested positive for marijuana heading into the NFL Draft in 2015, which was a huge reason he was drafted 60th instead of in the early first round.
He missed all of the 2019 season due to a then-indefinite suspension for violating the NFL’s substance-abuse policy, but was reinstated in 2020. He was suspended a total of 52 games out of a possible 96 going into the 2021 season.
Gregory has admitted publicly that he has dealt with depression and addiction, calling himself “immature” back in 2018. According to a story in The Athletic, Gregory said he failed about 100 NFL drug tests, but also underwent treatment at multiple in- and out-patient clinics.
He has not had a violation since 2019, and has played in all four games this season.
If healthy — and likely motivated by joining the Super Bowl favorite instead of Denver’s dumpster fire — Gregory could be the move of the season when you consider how little the 49ers offered to acquire him.