Gregory 'Retires,' Owes NFL Team $1.853M

FRISCO - Randy Gregory signed with the Tampa Bay Bucs in the spring in an attempt to revitalize his career. The contract was for one year and called for him to make $3 million, a total that included an upfront signing bonus.

The Dallas Cowboys' 2015 NFL Draft second-rounder took that signing bonus - $1.3 million - and then never showed up for work.

He accumulated fines over the course of the summer by going AWOL ($50,000 per day plus two game checks (totaling $353,000) that by our calculations created an odd situation in which he owed the team more ($1.853 million) than the bonus itself.

Now comes word that the bonus has been paid back - he literally ended up paying Tampa Bay the $353,000 for its trouble - and that Gregory, 31, is planning a retirement.

Sadly, he may think he's doing that by choice. Just as likely? There are 32 NFL teams that are "retiring'' themselves from him.

There are those in Dallas - nobody inside The Star, thankfully - who have pushed for the Cowboys to give this another try. ... all after almost a decade of suspensions and turbulence and conflict and foolishness and sadness.

Related: Lawson On Signing in Dallas: 'The Stars Aligned!'

But Gregory, we testify, doesn't need to "find himself'' a team.

Rather, he just needs to "find himself.''

Could Gregory's absence be the result of something innocuous? People who care about him certainly hope so. Something more dramatic? Anyone who has followed Gregory's career knows that's possible, too.