Randy Gregory signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this offseason but his tenure with the team is already over, without ever having stepped on the field in a Bucs jersey. Gregory did not report to Buccaneers training camp this year and now the team is planning to release him.
“The Buccaneers have reached agreement with edge rusher Randy Gregory, leading to his release next week, play-by-play announcer Chris Meyers said during the local broadcast of Saturday’s preseason game,” Chareen Williams reported on Pro Football Talk on Saturday.
While Gregory has not spoken about why he's not in camp, he is currently suing the NFL for discrimination.
Gregory filed “a lawsuit against the NFL and the Denver Broncos over alleged discrimination in June. In it, Gregory claimed that the league and team denied him the use of the drug dronabinol, which is prescribed to Gregory by a doctor for the treatment of social anxiety disorder and post-traumatic stress,” Jenna Laine of ESPN reports.
The drug in question includes THC, which is also the active compound found in marijuana. The lawsuit is fighting the $532,500 in fines he racked up while playing for the Denver Broncos for using medication with THC in it.
For his part, Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles doesn't seem too concerned, as he has been operating without Gregory in training camp the entire time.
“Well, we never had him to begin with. He hasn't been here so we've been OK with the depth we've got. We've got some guys that can play and we're going to get 'em ready to play,” Bowles told reporters earlier in camp.
Randy Gregory has played seven NFL seasons for the Dallas Cowboys, Broncos, and San Francisco 49ers. He has 22.5 career sacks but has been no stranger to trouble. He was a surefire first-round pick coming out of Nebraska in 2015, but a failed drug test at the NFL Scouting Combine pushed him to the second round. He was also suspended for four games in 2016 for a failed drug test.