Why Cowboys won’t face old friend Randy Gregory in Preseason Week 1 vs Broncos

There have been many puzzling storylines out of the Dallas Cowboys this offseason. Perhaps one of the craziest ones was the last-minute “change of heart” from defensive end Randy Gregory. The seven-year Cowboy was prepared to take a five-year, $70 million from Jerry Jones and Co. It was even deemed official, as the team’s Twitter account sent out a tweet about the player’s return.

Minutes later, the story flipped. Gregory backed out of his contract and took virtually the same monetary deal from the Denver Broncos. There are two sides to every story, but Gregory argued that he left the Cowboys because of issues with the language in his contract, specifically a clause that stated: “a player could lose bonuses or guarantees if a player is fined or suspended.”

Since then, there’s been a lot of banter and social media jabs from both sides. All in all, it seems like even though he’d never played for another team, Gregory was glad to be out of Dallas.

Because the Broncos are an AFC team, they are not an opponent the Cowboys regularly face. Plus, the Cowboys just played them in the 2021 season. That means the only possible way Dallas was going to be able to go up against Gregory this year was in the preseason.

The Cowboys are in Denver and ready to take on the Broncos for their first preseason game tonight. However, their former DE will not be taking the field. He’s dealing with a rotator cuff injury, and the Broncos hope he’ll be ready for Week 1 of the regular season, which certainly puts him out of any preseason games.

The 29-year-old began training camp on the PUP list after the team handed him a massive contract. Gregory is still recovering from his offseason shoulder surgery.

Randy Gregory will not play in the Cowboys’ Week 1 preseason game vs. Broncos due to an injury

Because Denver and Dallas just played in 2021, the current scheduling rotation suggests that the two teams may not meet again in a regular-season matchup until 2025. Who knows where Gregory will be then?

While Gregory likely wouldn’t have played much of the game (even if he wasn’t injured) due to his veteran status, the Broncos have yet to really see the DE in action. Will the former Cowboy be rusty in Week 1 after not participating in any of offseason programming?

Instead of getting to show out against his former team, Gregory will have to watch guys like Dante Fowler Jr., Sam Williams, and Dorance Armstrong compete for his spot from the opposite sideline.