Randy Gregory picks Broncos over Cowboys in last-minute about-face

Good thing for the Dallas Cowboys that Twitter has a delete button.

The official Cowboys account announced Tuesday the re-signing of defensive end Randy Gregory but had to backtrack minutes later when Gregory changed his mind and agreed to terms with the Denver Broncos instead.

What happened?

It was “100 percent a matter of the Cowboys tinkering with contract language at the last moment,” according to Yahoo Sports. Gregory’s extension with the Cowboys was supposed to be a five-year, $70 million contract, ESPN reported, and Gregory’s agent Peter Schaffer initially told the Dallas Morning News that “no doubt what Jerry [Jones] has done for him [the] last seven years played a huge part” in his staying put.

All that loyalty from both sides disappeared when it came time to read the fine print, however.

The Broncos, who were waiting in the wings, swooped in to land Gregory’s verbal agreement when he balked at the contract language. The Broncos quickly Tweeted out a “surprise” GIF. Free agents cannot sign to change teams until 4 p.m. Wednesday, so the Broncos will have to wait to make Gregory’s addition official.

Gregory, 29, tied his career-high with six sacks in just 12 games last season. The second-round draft pick of the Cowboys in 2015 has been suspended four times by the NFL, including for the entire 2019 season, due to violations of the substance-abuse policy.