Jerry Jones claims he passed on a chance to keep…

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Two weeks ago, the Broncos and Cowboys ended up in a back and forth for defensive end Randy Gregory. It all came down to whether the contract would include language voiding future guarantees based on something as simple as a fine under the substance-abuse policy.

Before Gregory agreed to terms with the Cowboys, Gregory gave the Cowboys a chance to match. The Cowboys declined.

On Monday, Jones shared with reporters details of a conversation he had with Gregory and his agent, Peter Schaffer.

“I was on the phone with Randy and his agent, and I said ‘El Paso,’ that little West Texas town,” Jones said, via Jori Epstein of USA Today. I said ‘El Paso — thank you, but no thank you.’”

By invoking El Paso, Jones was passing on the opportunity to keep Gregory. That’s when Gregory, per Jones, finalized his decision to join the Broncos.

“He said, ‘Well, I’ll go ahead and get on the plane,’” Jones said. “So we could have done something there, and they asked if we would do that, and I didn’t do it. I [chose not to] do it of my own volition.”

Although there may have been hard feelings at the time, Jones praised Gregory on Monday.

“I wish Randy, as much as I’ve ever wished a player not playing for the Cowboys, the very best,” Jones said. “He got the best I’m about and I think we got the best that he’s about. I’m proud of him. . . . Sometimes your closest-in relationship becomes the most polarized quickly and lasts the longest. I don’t want that to be the case here. I want him to have a lot of success, except when he’s playing the Cowboys.”

The Cowboys did indeed stick with Gregory through his struggles under a foolish policy that forbids players from using recreational drugs like marijuana. Jones in the past has spoken out about the marijuana ban. The language in Gregory’s contract, however, would have given the team the ability to cut Gregory after one year, wiping out $14 million in guarantees applicable to 2023, if he simply were fined once between now and September 2023 under the policy.

Gregory wasn’t comfortable with assuming that risk. The Broncos were comfortable with removing that language. Jones ultimately was comfortable with going to El Paso. He definitely won’t find a player like Gregory when he gets there.