Joseph Randle was supposed to be the guy Cowboys fans pointed to and said “See? We didn’t need DeMarco.” He was supposed to leave no meat on the bone (did he actually call himself the talent?). Instead, Randle put up small numbers, found himself without a job six weeks into the season, and got arrested again. Randle’s departure from the Cowboys was a little strange, given rumblings about his “mental stability” and missing time for a “personal, off the field issue.” And that off the field issue? Gambling … among other things.

According to a Dallas News report, “a combination of issues led the Cowboys to release Randle … in addition to showing signs of mental instability, he had been involved in placing wagers on sporting events during the 2015 season, sources said.” Jerry Jones has denied that Randle – to their knowledge – bet on NFL games or let his betting impact his play on the field.

But Randle’s gambling wasn’t the main concern for the Cowboys. He appeared to be losing his mind:

Randle phoned the Irving police department at 12:35 p.m. on Oct. 28. Department spokesman James McClellan said the running back asked that police go to his home to perform a welfare check on his then-girlfriend, Avina Rodriguez. Randle told police he had found her cellphone in his car and was concerned that someone had broken into his house.

McClellan said Randle met the police at his home and handed over the keys for them to check inside. It turned out Rodriguez was at school. Since there was no suspicion of criminal activity, no report was written up, McClellan said.

Sources said Randle wasn’t making sense that day, with his call to the Irving police and wide-ranging stories he told Cowboys officials.

“He admitted to officers that he was having delusions,” McClellan said Monday about Randle’s police call. “He said that he was delusional, that he was imagining the whole thing*.”

The report says the NFL and the Cowboys offered him help over and over again, but Randle refused. He was recently arrested on an outstanding speeding warrant (“I’m betting he’s going to swerve first”)– his fourth arrest in 16 months. According to the Dallas News, “The final straw came for the Cowboys midway through the 2015 season when they asked Randle to commit to receiving outside help for his unstable behavior and he wouldn’t agree to do so, sources said.” Randle has had the Cowboys, NFL, and NFLPA trying to help him through all of this but denies that he has a problem. In the concussion-awareness era, this just screams CTE, but it could be anything.