The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have another candidate for their edge rush rotation in 2024.
On Wednesday, veteran outside linebacker Randy Gregory agreed to a one-year deal to join the Buccaneers, his fourth NFL team. In seven seasons and 72 games with the Dallas Cowboys, Denver Broncos and San Francisco 49ers, Gregory has recorded 22.0 sacks, 69 quarterback hits and 27 tackles for loss. Last season, he played four games for the Broncos before being traded to San Francisco, where he appeared in 12 more contests and finished the season with 3.5 sacks and 10 quarterback hits.
Gregory joins an outside linebacker group in Tampa that needed reinforcements after Shaquil Barrett was released in March for salary cap relief. The Buccaneers' sack leader in 2023 was then-rookie Yaya Diaby, who took over a starting job at midseason and would be a presumptive starter in 2024 across from 2021 first-round pick Joe Tryon-Shoyinka. That group also includes Anthony Nelson, Markees Watts and Jose Ramirez.
Gregory first entered the league as a second-round pick (60th overall) by the Cowboys in 2015. Injuries and NFL suspensions caused him to miss the majority of his first three NFL seasons but he returned in 2018 to play in 14 games and record 6.0 sacks and 15 quarterback hits. Over the 2020-21 campaigns he played in 22 games with 11 starts and contributed 9.5 sacks, 29 QB hits, an interception and six forced fumbles. He became an unrestricted free agent after the 2021 season and signed with the Broncos, but a knee injury limited him to six games and three starts in 2022.
On October 6 of the 2023 season, Denver traded Gregory and a 2024 seventh-round pick to the 49ers for a 2024 sixth-round pick. As a rotational player in San Francisco, he played approximately a third of the defensive snaps and produced 2.5 sacks and eight quarterback hits in 12 regular season games. He also played in all three postseason contests, including Super Bowl LVIII and had five stops and a tackle for loss.
Gregory started his collegiate career at Arizona Western before transferring to Nebraska in 2013. He was the first prospect ever selected in the NFL Draft who had played at Arizona Western.
