There’s never a dull moment during NFL free agency.
Soon after the NFL’s free agency negotiating window opened on Monday, news broke that the Denver Broncos were pursuing pending free agent pass rusher Randy Gregory.
Gregory’s contract with the Dallas Cowboys is set to expire on Wednesday, but the Cowboys did not want to lose him, so they were negotiating an extension with the 29-year-old edge defender, hoping to prevent him from leaving for another team in free agency.
Other teams are also allowed to negotiate with pending free agents from Monday to Wednesday, so the Broncos were courting Gregory as well.
Gregory’s talks with Dallas reached an advanced stage on Tuesday morning and reports indicated he was set to re-sign with the Cowboys. Dallas’ social media team even tweeted that the edge rusher would be returning in 2022.
Then there was a twist.
Vic Lombardi of Altitude Sports — followed by other outlets — began reporting that Gregory was going to reverse course and sign with Denver instead. Nobody saw that coming, and the Broncos’ social media team shared a perfect reaction on Twitter.
— Denver Broncos (@Broncos) March 15, 2022
Following the news of Gregory agreeing to terms with the Broncos, the Cowboys deleted their tweet — but not before many screenshots were taken by Twitter users.
Per @VicLombardi, Randy Gregory is headed to the Broncos.
But screen captures are forever. pic.twitter.com/j0FX9G9ywT
— Andrew Mason (@MaseDenver) March 15, 2022
ESPN’s Ed Werder tweeted Tuesday that Dallas “attempted to change” language of Gregory’s contract after an agreement had been reached, and he then opted to sign with Denver instead.
Let this serve as a lesson to not try to change terms of an agreement when other suitors are knocking at the door — and don’t tweet too quickly.
Gregory’s five-year agreement with the Broncos won’t become official until the NFL’s new league year begins on Wednesday, so it’s still possible that there could be another twist in this story, but it seems he’s headed to Denver.
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