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This story has been updated with new information. The original version continues after the break.
Moments after our post went out noting that Randy Gregory was preparing to file for reinstatement into the NFL, the proverbial shoe dropped. According to ESPN Gregory has in fact filed for reinstatement.
FRISCO, Texas - Dallas Cowboys defensive end Randy Gregory, suspended indefinitely in February 2019, has officially filed for reinstatement to the NFL, a source told ESPN.
Under the league’s substance-abuse policy, the NFL has to make a decision on Gregory’s status in the next 60 days.
We will all be on watch for the next 60 days to see what the NFL ultimately decides. As noted the league’s change in their stance on marijuana will conceivably go a long way.
One of the biggest changes to the NFL’s new Collective Bargaining Agreement is the league’s stance on marijuana. We’ve seen this issue keep different players from playing consistently in the National Football League and one of them is Dallas Cowboys defensive end Randy Gregory. Unfortunately, Gregory did not play at all throughout the 2019 season due to suspension issues.
Gregory is somebody that the Dallas Cowboys have believed in for some time, and with the league changing, it seems to open the door for his career to resume. That all remains to be seen, but according to The Dallas Morning News. things could be set into motion soon.
Randy Gregory has been given multiple chances by the Cowboys to resume his career.
The club is ready to give him another.
It’s premature to say the Cowboys are counting on Gregory for the upcoming season. He must first petition for reinstatement — a step sources say will be taken soon — and then have commissioner Roger Goodell lift his latest suspension.
But given dramatic alterations for how marijuana use is viewed in the new collective bargaining agreement, it’s difficult to envision a scenario where Goodell would keep the suspension in place.
Perhaps the biggest thing that Gregory has going for him isn’t even the league’s stance on marijuana changing but the fact that his team, the Dallas Cowboys, have his back as strongly as they do. The Cowboys have backed him since day one and always believed that he has a future in football.
As noted, Commissioner Roger Goodell would have to approve of Gregory’s return to the game, but if it were to happen it would certainly help the Cowboys. From a football sense the team is in need of an edge rusher off of the right side and Gregory has shown an ability to do that quite effectively as recently as 2018.