Veteran player loses a ton of money because he decided to ditch the Bucs shortly after signing with them

The Randy Gregory-Tampa Bay Buccaneers saga is over. Or, can it even be defined as such since nothing ever really began?

The Bucs officially finalized Gregory's release on Thursday, ending one of the strangest free agent signings in team history. Tampa Bay signed the veteran pass rusher to a one-year, prove-it deal back on April 4 and then Gregory never showed up.

For anything. Not one single practice. Voluntary or mandatory.

Per FOX Sports' Greg Auman, Gregory has repaid the $1.3 million bonus the Bucs initially paid him and will obviously not collect a single cent of the base salary he would've received for being on the team during the regular season.

But, in another twist, Gregory still has to pay fines for missing both training camp and mandatory minicamp. Training camp absences result in a $50,000 per day fine. The Bucs have held 18 training camp practices after Wednesday's joint session with the Miami Dolphins, therefore, Gregory is on the hook for about $900k in training camp fines.

The minicamp fines total $101,716, so Gregory will have to pay over $1 million in fines. So, the fines, along with the bonus payback, represents more than $2.3 million paid back to the franchise.

Not even Todd Bowles knows why the veteran never reported, or at least that's what he's been telling reporters. At this point, it's fair to wonder just what was Gregory's thought process? Was he never invested? Did he regret his decision? Was his lawsuit against the NFL taking more time and attention than he initially thought?

Whatever the case may be, the idea he never called anyone and simply updated them is pretty wild to think about. And knowing he would face fines that can't be waived - why wouldn't he just ask for his release before training camp started?

Either way, it doesn't matter, now. Gregory was never looked at as more than a depth piece in the Bucs' pass rush rotation and the team feels good about where the room stands, now.

Pick it up and move on. This one is done with.