The Dallas Cowboys have made it abundantly clear over the past several months that they don’t plan on re-signing troubled defensive end Greg Hardy after that one-year experiment failed to work out.
Delving a bit further into the team’s decision to move on, Cowboys vice president Stephen Jones had this to say recently:
“I think one of the most important things is when you take a chance with a player, if you see it’s not working, it’s time to move on,” Jones said, via the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “We gave it its due in terms of a year here, and we just felt like at the end of the day, it wasn’t the right fit.”
On the field, Hardy proved to be a bust. He recorded just six sacks in 12 games after seeing his initial 10-game suspension shortened to four on appeal.
Though, the Cowboys need all the help they can get from a pass-rush standpoint with both DeMarcus Lawrence and Randy Gregory suspended for the first four games of the 2016 season.
Instead, Dallas’ decision to move on from Hardy is a direct result of his actions after being suspended by the league due to a domestic violence situation dating back to his Carolina Panthers days.
Already under the microscope for giving Hardy a chance after details of this incident became public record, the Cowboys were then put in the unenviable situation of having to explain away the myriad of issues Hardy presented during the 2015 season.
“Greg had a great start here and then he went through a lot, I do know that,” Jones continued. “He’s been through a lot and you just never know how that is going to affect somebody. We wish him nothing but the best, getting his hands around everything in his life and hopefully getting in a place where he can be successful in whatever he chooses to do.”
That’s definitely closing the door on any potential return here.
It’s not yet known what the Cowboys plan to do in order to address their defensive line situation. Even after adding to EDGE guys in the draft last week, this remains a major issue.
As it relates to Hardy, he’s not necessarily drawing much interest on the open market. After reports of some teams showing interest back in March, things have died down a great deal on that front.
The question now becomes whether any franchise will find Hardy worth the headache. That seems unlikely at this point.