SANTA CLARA — The 49ers’ relentless pursuit of a premier defensive front prompted them Friday to trade for pass rusher Randy Gregory, who has missed 54 games in his NFL career because of drug-related suspensions.
“I know he’s messed up at times in the past, but from the type of person I’m told he is, we’re excited to have him,” 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said.
Gregory, 30, quickly fell out of favor with the Denver Broncos, who were on the verge of releasing him earlier this week. Instead, the 49ers swooped in to acquire him and a 2024 seventh-round draft pick in exchange for a 2024 sixth-round pick.
After passing a physical Friday and meeting with Shanahan, Gregory was set to fly back to Denver to see his family, collect his things, and return Monday. Thus, he will not be in uniform Sunday night when the 49ers (4-0) host the Dallas Cowboys, who were Gregory’s team from 2015-21 before he left in free agency last year for the Broncos’ higher bid.
As part of that five-year, $69.5 million contract, he’s owed a $14 million base salary this season, and the Broncos will pay that total, except for a $1 million portion the 49ers must cover, ProFootballTalk.com first reported. Gregory’s 2024-26 salaries, of roughly $13 million annually, are not guaranteed.
“That’s why we felt extremely good about it,” Shanahan said of the low-risk nature. “… He seems fired up. Our team is fired up. Even the guys who didn’t know him, they’re aware of him from playing against him.”
Gregory briefly attended Friday’s practice and chatted with some teammates, including left tackle Trent Williams, who has sparred with him for years.
“He adds everything that we’re about: a guy who plays like his hair is on fire, a guy who’ll give you 100 percent to the whistle,” Williams said. “Obviously a great pass rusher, will get after the quarterback, sets the edge in the run game. Everything he’s about, we’re about. Perfect fit.”
Cornerback Charvarius Ward agreed: “You know we’ve got demons on the D-line. He’s going to fit right in with those boys. This system, where they penetrate and get after the quarterback, he’s a real good fit.”
The 49ers may be 4-0 but their highly compensated defense has produced just four sacks in the past three games, after a five-sack outburst in the season opener at Pittsburgh.
To make room for Gregory, fellow defensive lineman Kerry Hyder Jr. was released after totaling one sack over 22 percent of the team’s defensive snaps.
“It’s a weird situation that (Gregory) is coming from. The opportunity to get him is amazing and everyone is really excited,” defensive tackle Arik Armstead said. “But I also want to highlight Kerry Hyder and his contributions that he made for our team throughout the years.”
Having met as 2015 draft classmates, Armstead called Gregory an “amazing player” with pass-rushing speed and run-defending ability. Backup offensive tackle Matt Pryor echoed those sentiments, and he recounted his days with the Philadelphia Eagles (2018-20) when Gregory would constantly badger him by saying, “You’re big for nothing.”
Now it’s Pryor (6-foot-7, 332 pounds) who’s saying how helpful Gregory (6-5, 242) can be to the 49ers and how “he’ll probably help free up Bosa a little, too.”
Bosa has just one sack after being signed in Week 1 to the richest contract in NFL history for a non-quarterback (five years, $170 million). The 49ers have gotten three sacks out of this year’s other big-money move, the free agency acquisition of defensive tackle Javon Hargrave (four years, $84 million).
Gregory figures to rotate in at defensive end where the 49ers also have Clelin Ferrell and Drake Jackson, the latter having produced all three of his in the season-opening rout at Pittsburgh. The 49ers entered Friday with $40 million in salary cap space, having recently restructured the contracts of Armstead, Williams and George Kittle.
Gregory played in just 10 of 21 games with the Broncos, starting just six and totaling only three sacks. His Cowboys tenure was impacted by multiple suspensions for violating the NFL’s substance abuse policy — he did not play in 2017 or ’19. He totaled 16 1/2 sacks in 50 games for Dallas.
He becomes arguably the 49ers’ greatest character risk since linebacker Reuben Foster was released in 2018 following an arrest for suspicion of domestic violence, after already having served a two-game suspension for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy.
“Yeah, you look into all that, always. But you always judge a guy when you get to know him,” Shanahan said. “This is our first time to do it, but, also, there are a lot of people I know very well that speak extremely high of him. I’m excited about the person we’ve got and the character of the guy, from what I’ve been told from everyone who knows him.”
Shanahan noted that he “loves” what Gregory’s shown on film in games. His Cowboys finale was their January 2022 wild-card loss to the 49ers, when he caused a shoulder injury to Jimmy Garoppolo and was called for two neutral zone infractions while lining up against Williams. Last year, Gregory sacked Garoppolo in Denver’s Week 3 comeback, and Gregory even sacked Sam Darnold two months ago in a preseason visit to Levi’s Stadium.
“He’s a bigger dude, longer guy,” Williams said. “And the explosion off the ball can make up for any weight deficit you would think. Super explosive, super twitchy guy. Really long arms, really hard to keep blocked.”
On Thursday, defensive coordinator Steve Wilks defended the 49ers’ pass rush, to an extent, in saying: “We are hitting the quarterback quite a bit. We just have to find a way to translate those into sacks.”
Wilks also noted the first thing his defensive ends must show is being stout against the run. Pryor noted that Gregory indeed does that and shouldn’t be viewed as a third-down pass-rush specialist.
Bosa expressed confidence Wednesday in the 49ers’ pass rush and his potential to get more sacks, having set a career-high last year with 18 1/2 sacks en route to NFL Defensive Player of the Year honors. “We’ve had some games we’ve had some really good defensive line performances the past three games,” Bosa said Wednesday. “If we keep building off of that, they’re going to come.”
Now Gregory is coming, too.
Gregory is the latest in a series of in-season trades since Shanahan and general manager John Lynch arrived in 2017. Other acquisitions since then: Garoppolo (2017), wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders (2019), and Christian McCaffrey (2022).
PRACTICE NOTES
Running back Elijah Mitchell (knee) was ruled out and has not practiced because of last week’s knee injury, which Shanahan has not classified as a long-term issue. Reserve lineman Jon Feliciano (concussion protocol) is questionable. Wide receivers Deebo Samuel (ribs, knee) and Jauan Jennings (shin) are off the injury report, as are Ward (heel) and linebacker Dre Greenlaw (ankle).
Tight end Peyton Hendershot (ankle) was ruled out by the Cowboys and linebacker Damone Clark is questionable. They’re poised to welcome back left tackle Tyron Smith (knee) from a two-game absence and collectively start their five best offensive linemen for the first time since January 2021, according to the team’s website.
PURDY’S POTENTIAL RECORDS
Brock Purdy’s 117.1 passer rating through nine career starts has him poised to post the highest-ever by an NFL quarterback through 10 starts, marks led by Rob Johnson (113.8; Jacksonville, Buffalo) and Patrick Mahomes (112.7; Kansas City).
After completing a franchise-record 95.2 percent of his passes last Sunday (20-of-21), Purdy’s regular-season completion percentage is 70.3 through nine starts. Chad Pennigton (New York Jets) holds the NFL record through 10 starts with a 70.8 completion percentage.
ARMSTEAD HONORED
Armstead is this week’s NFL Players Association Community MVP, to which he called “a humbling honor and a testament to the impact we can make when we come together to help others off the field.”
Through his Armstead Academic Project, he recently donated books to the Sacramento Literacy Foundation’s Literacy Festival., donated 34 bikes at his Stay Hungry summer camp, and he announced he’ll donate $50,000 each to Teach For America California Capital Valley and Square Root Academy for Project Halo. Tuesday, Armstead read to students at East Palo Alto’s Castano Elementary School and Cesar Chavez Ravenswood Middle School.
“My motivation behind my charitable work is to use my platform to make a positive difference dedicated to ensuring that every student, no matter their socioeconomic status, has direct access to the resources they need to thrive to unlock their potential and achieve their goals,” Armstead said in a statement through the NFLPA.