The NFLPA wants to see what happens at Thursday’s hearing on regarding Adrian Peterson before taking any action on behalf of Greg Hardy, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk writes. Hardy still hasn’t made a decision regarding a potential lawsuit against the league, a source with knowledge of the situation tells Florio.
On July 10th, the Cowboys defensive end saw his ten-game suspension lowered to a much more palatable four-game ban. However, Hardy’s camp reportedly decided from the outset that they would battle anything beyond two games since he already sat out the lion’s share of the 2014 season. Florio’s source says that Hardy has decided to follow the lead of the union on this one – he’ll proceed with action if the NFLPA wants to, but otherwise, he’s prepared to serve a four-game suspension.
For now, assuming Hardy accepts the four-game suspension, he’ll have the potential to earn up to about $10.628MM this season. The 26-year-old’s contract has a modest base salary, but features up to $9.25MM in per-game roster bonuses and about $1.8MM in incentives. By getting his penalty reduced from 10 games to four games, Hardy will have the opportunity to earn nearly $3.5MM in extra per-game roster bonuses.
As a refresher, Hardy allegedly assaulted and threatened to kill ex-girlfriend Nicole Holder in May of 2014. After being found guilty by a judge, Hardy was scheduled to get a jury trial, but due to a lack of cooperation by Holder, the charges against the defensive end were ultimately dismissed, as he reached a civil settlement with his accuser. While the case played out, Hardy spent the 2014 season on the commissioner’s exempt list for the Panthers, missing all but one game. The Cowboys signed Hardy earlier this offseason before word of his suspension broke, and a four-game ban is about what the team had initially expected.
I get that Hardy just plans to follow the NFLPA’s lead, but he should really just accept the punishment and move on. The fact that he even gets to continue his career at all is a blessing for him, and given his age and talent, he could be in line for a major payday down the road. For now, he should just keep his head down and go to work. The quicker this chapter of his life ends for him, the better.