The 49ers made a major splash on Friday by acquiring former Cowboys and Broncos pass rusher Randy Gregory.

While Gregory has missed more than 50 games in his career due to substance abuse suspensions, he has not missed a game for those reasons since 2019. The 49ers took advantage of his impending release from the Broncos to get him for cheap.

Shanahan talks Gregory acquisition

Gregory was traded for 2024 sixth-round pick, while the Broncos sent back a 2024 seventh-round pick. Denver is picking up most of his salary, meaning the 49ers only have to pay him the prorated veteran minimum in 2023 of $840,000.

He has three years remaining on his deal, and while the base salaries of $13.75 million next year and $12.75 million in the subsequent two years are substantial, none of that money is guaranteed. If the 49ers want to keep him, they’d likely be able to negotiate a discount by guaranteeing him more money. If they don’t want to keep him, it won’t cost them a penny.

While Gregory has had knee injuries in the past and played just five games in 2022 following offseason surgery, he’s played in all four games so far this season.

The 49ers confirmed his acquisition on Friday, and released veteran defensive lineman Kerry Hyder Jr. from the roster in a corresponding move. It’s possible Hyder returns to the practice squad at a later date.

Kyle Shanahan discussed the acquisition with reporters on Friday, saying that he won’t play this weekend against his former team. Gregory was in the building, but will take the weekend to make the move from Denver to the Bay, and be in the building on Monday.

Here’s what Shanahan liked about the move and what the reaction was in the locker room:

• What interested 49ers about Gregory: “Just playing against him over our career, two years ago when we played him up there in Dallas, he was as good of a rusher as we’d gone against. And just the fact that we had an opportunity that he was available, being able to add a guy like that, we feel he’ll make our team better and so we didn’t hesitate to do it.”
• Why he’s confident in his character despite past suspensions?: “You look into all that stuff always, but you always judge a guy when you get to know him and it’s our first time to do it. But also there’s a lot of people I know really well that speak extremely high of him and it’s very consistent. So I’m excited about the person we got, the character of the guy, from what I’ve been told from everyone who knows him. And we love the tape. I know he has messed up at times in the past, but from the type of person I’ve been told that he is, we’re really excited to have him here.” 
• Ecstatic about the price tag: “Yes, that’s why we felt extremely good about it, especially making the trade for it, just having to flip the sixth and seventh and not hurting anything money-wise. So we felt fortunate to add on our team.” 
• Locker room is ecstatic: “He knows some guys on our team, he spoke to our coaches, got to meet everybody today. He seems fired up. Our team’s fired up. Even the guys that didn’t know him, they’re aware of him from playing against him. I know how excited our O-line was when they found out too.”  

Game status report

For the second-straight week, running back Elijah Mitchell will be out. It continues a pattern of Mitchell missing time due to injuries which has persisted since his breakout rookie year, when he fought through multiple injuries.

Shanahan declined to give further information on Mitchell when asked about his knee injury (he said last week he “banged it” in practice on Thursday).

In addition to Mitchell, interior offensive lineman Jon Feliciano will be questionable as he remains in the concussion protocol.

For Dallas, tight end Peyton Hendershot will be out with an ankle injury that held him out of practice. Linebacker Damone Clark is questionable with a shoulder injury.