Randy Gregory’s time with the Denver Broncos is officially over. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) (Thearon W. Henderson via Getty Images)
The Denver Broncos are trading veteran pass rusher Randy Gregory to the San Francisco 49ers, the team confirmed Friday.
As part of the deal, the Broncos will also send San Francisco a 2024 seventh-round pick and receive a 2024 sixth-round pick in return.
Gregory’s move to San Francisco comes days after it was announced that Denver was waiving him, but the team never officially released the 30-year-old.
Cutting Gregory was “something we thought was just the best thing for our team time-wise,” head coach Sean Payton said, Payton said Wednesday, via ESPN.
“It is ongoing as typically before a transaction there may be some teams interested in a trade,” he added.
Gregory signed a five-year, $70 million contract with the Broncos last offseason. Accordingly, he received a guaranteed $14 million last year and another $14 million guaranteed this year on his base salary for 2023 to Spotrac.
The Broncos didn’t exactly see a great return on investment there, as he played 10 games in two seasons and had three sacks.
With the Broncos paying Gregory about $10 million for the remainder of this season, he will reportedly receive the veteran minimum of $840,000 from San Francisco by the end of the year, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported.
Gregory spent the first seven years of his career with the Dallas Cowboys, who drafted him in the second round in 2015. When he was on the field, he performed limitedly for the Cowboys, but several drug-related suspensions resulted in his ineligibility for the 2017 and 2019 seasons and most of 2016. His most productive season was in 2021, when he recorded six sacks, three forced fumbles and one interception.
After that season, the Cowboys appeared to re-sign him to a five-year contract, but he later backed out due to disagreements with contract language and signed with Denver instead.
San Francisco faces its former Cowboys on Sunday. According to Pelissero, Gregory has already passed his physical for the 49ers.
#49ers Kyle Shanahan on Randy Gregory:
“We love the video. We know he has had problems at times in the past. But what kind of person he is, from what I know, we are happy to have him with us.”— Cam Inman (@CamInman) October 6, 2023