Greg Hardy

Cowboys Notes: Hardy, Weeden, NFLPA

November 19th, 2015 at 5:55pm CST by Zachary Links

In a wide-ranging Q&A, Michael Florek of The Dallas Morning News spoke with Cowboys linebacker Keith Smith and even worked in a Tinder pickup line as a question. When asked whether he’d rather fight a horse-sized duck or 100 duck-sized horses, Smith had an interesting take.

“Oh that’s tough. I’d probably say a horse-sized duck because you know what’s right in front of you. You know what you’re going to get. It is what it is. It ain’t got no arms. It’s got some wings, but it is what it is.”

While you ponder that conundrum, here’s more out of Dallas:

In an interview on SiriusXM NFL Radio (via Twitter), Cowboys COO Stephen Jones was asked about the behavior of star defensive end Greg Hardy. “Internally I don’t think Greg Hardy is a problem. He’s not perfect, there’s things he has to work on,” Jones said. Hardy, who sat out the bulk of the 2014 season and part of the 2015 season, has come under additional fire in recent weeks after pictures of badly bruised ex-girlfriend Nicole Holder surfaced.
In an op-ed for USA Today, NFLPA Assistant Executive Director of External Affairs George Atallah responded to the criticisms of USA Today columnist Christine Brennan regarding their handling of Hardy. Brennan put some heat on the NFLPA, questioning their support of the Cowboys star. Attalah makes the case that the NFLPA had an obligation to stand up for Hardy’s rights under the CBA, even if the incident was an ugly one.
After giving Brandon Weeden multiple opportunities to show what he could do, Jones told SiriusXM NFL Radio (Twitter link) that the team just didn’t see a future for the quarterback in Dallas. Weeden, 32, entered the season as Tony Romo’s backup, and looked good in relief of the injured starter in Week 2, completing all seven of his passes for 73 yards and a touchdown, as Dallas secured a 20-10 win over the Eagles. However, Weeden was up and down in his next three starts, throwing just one touchdown in those games, as the Cowboys lost all three. Eventually, Weeden lost the temporary starting gig to veteran Matt Cassel. On Wednesday, he was scooped up by the Texans.

Latest On Cowboys, Greg Hardy

November 17th, 2015 at 7:47pm CST by Zachary Links

The latest on Cowboys defensive end Greg Hardy:

When asked about a contract extension for Hardy on Tuesday, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones only spoke hypothetically, as Clarence E. Hill of the Star-Telegram writes. “Greg knows what’s expected and nobody is more aware of the scrutiny and nobody is more aware, now ever more so, of what we expect of him,” Jones said. “The good news is we go forward. We see if we get what’s expected of him, which I fully anticipate you would get. But we see how and what’s expected of him and we go from there. We don’t…as a practice, discuss detail of extending or not extending. I’ll give an indication, but that’s about it. So we’ll leave it for that. I have no reason to think that Greg won’t do what’s expected of him throughout the year.”
Hardy wasn’t just late for a team meeting on Thursday, as previously reported — he missed it entirely, according to a source who spoke with David Moore of The Dallas Morning News (on Twitter). Hardy, of course, was only fined for that transgression and not suspended.
The Cowboys need to move on from Hardy next year, Rick Gosselin of The Dallas Morning News opines. Gosselin feels that whoever signs the defensive end will be in for a firestorm and, therefore, he is not worth the trouble.

East Notes: Vernon, Hardy, Dolphins

November 17th, 2015 at 11:33am CST by Luke Adams

Defensive end Olivier Vernon, who has had to step up for the Dolphins with Cameron Wake out for the season, didn’t have a sack on Sunday against the Eagles, but he had an impact on the game, recording a handful of quarterback hits and hurries.

Vernon’s latest solid performance has Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald wondering why the Dolphins aren’t more inclined to engage in at least preliminary extension talks with the defender’s camp during the season. Vernon isn’t the Dolphins’ only notable free-agent-to-be, and Miami doesn’t make a habit of discussing new deals during the season. However, as Salguero writes, waiting until the offseason and having to decide whether it’s worth using the franchise tag on Vernon could cost the team much more.

Here’s more from around the NFL’s East divisions:

Head coach Jason Garrett didn’t want to go into any specifics about a report on Greg Hardy being late for a Cowboys‘ meeting last week, but he also didn’t deny it happened, as Todd Archer of ESPNDallas.com writes. “Suffice it to say that we have standards here with the Cowboys, that if a player were to miss something or be late for something, we address it in-house, and we address it the right way,” Garrett said. According to Archer, the penalty for such a transgression would be a fine, per team rules.
With a game against the Dolphins on tap this weekend, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones admitted in an appearance on 105.3 The Fan that his team previously tried to hire Dan Campbell as its tight ends coach, according to Charean Williams of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram (Twitter link).
The Dolphins are hosting former Patriots linebacker Cameron Gordon for a visit today, tweets agent Brett Tessler. While the Michigan product spent some time on New England’s roster, he has yet to appear in an NFL regular season game.
Jets quarterback Geno Smith exercised poor judgment once again in the wake of last week’s loss to the Bills, and it’s the latest example of why he doesn’t have a long-term future with the organization, according to Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News.
Several Philadelphia News staffers, including Les Bowen and Paul Domowitch, evaluated the performance of Chip Kelly as the Eagles‘ general manager, with none of the 23 poll respondents giving Kelly better than a C grade.

Update On Greg Hardy’s Contract

November 14th, 2015 at 7:23pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Greg Hardy‘s one-year contract with the Cowboys is more than a little complicated — while it contains a base salary of just $750K, the deal also has $9.25MM in per-game roster bonuses, money that Hardy would only see for each game he’s active. Additionally, Hardy was entitled to a $1.31MM workout bonus, and could earn another $1.8MM via incentives.

Hardy has already earned that workout bonus, which, as Jason Fitzgerald of Over the Cap explained earlier this year, acted as something of a signing bonus. Following a four-game suspension, Hardy has played in four contests, meaning he’s taken home about $176K in base salary and and roughly $2.312MM in roster bonuses. The incentives had remained a mystery until now, as a source tells Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk that Hardy was scheduled to earn $500K for eight sacks, $1MM for 10, $1.4MM for 12, and the full $1.8MM for 14. Hardy already has four sacks through four games, so if he were to continue this pace, Dallas would end up paying the $1.4MM bonus.

Some (including myself) have theorized that with the Cowboy stumbling through something of a lost season, they could cut Hardy now, not only ridding themselves of an off-the-field headache, but saving themselves a decent chunk of money in the process. Unless the club seriously plans to re-sign Hardy after the season (which seems increasingly unlikely given his behavior), there doesn’t seem to be a good reason to keep him on the roster.

In Florio’s piece, he writes that Hardy’s sack-based incentive is the “only…aspect of compensation [that] hinges on Hardy being on the roster through the end of the regular season,” arguing that the Cowboys wouldn’t save that much money by cutting Hardy. Based on my reading of the contract, that’s not the case. If Hardy were to be waived tonight, for example, Dallas would would be off the hook for not only the $1.4MM in incentives, but also $4.625MM in per-game roster bonuses (eight remaining games multiplied by $578,125).

In total, the Cowboys could save $6.025MM of a contract which had a maximum value of about $11.3MM — not exactly chump change. Even if one disregards or overlooks the moral case for waiving Hardy, the financial ramifications are clear: Dallas would clear out ample cap space by cutting Hardy in the coming weeks, especially before he begins reaching his incentives.

NFC Rumors: Forte, Jeffery, Hardy, Avril

November 14th, 2015 at 4:58pm CST by Sam Robinson

Matt Forte‘s free agency bid’s played a role in the Bears running back’s recovery timetable, per Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk.

The soon-to-be 30-year-old dual-threat back suffered a sprained MCL two weeks ago and, similar to a pitcher in the last days of his contract with a non-playoff-bound team, Forte won’t rush back.

“That’s [a factor], if not the most important factor — the future,” Forte told reporters, via Dan Wiederer of the Chicago Tribune. “Because if you go out there for one game and then ruin the rest of your season and maybe your career, then that’s a big factor. There’s a lot of football left to be played. So you don’t want to chance it for one game.”

Forte’s in the fourth and final year of a $30.4MM pact, his second with the Bears, and as of now looks to be the top option in the 2016 running back class, along with Chris Ivory.

Florio does speculate Forte would be more inclined to return to the field sooner if the Bears decided to offer him a third contract.

Here’s some more news coming out of the NFC locales.

If the Bears were observing a healthy contract year from Alshon Jeffery, the decision to re-sign the fourth-year wideout to a lucrative, long-term extension wouldn’t be difficult, Rich Campbell of the Chicago Tribune writes. Jeffery’s been on and off the injury report this season, missing four games, and this week’s served as a microcosm, with the ex-second-rounder dominating Monday night only to miss practice time this week with his third leg-muscle injury this season. Campbell offers that the Bears could place some escalators in Jeffery’s possible extension revolving around playing time. “You have to bet on the player that he’s going to get healthy,” former GM Mark Domenik said. “When you start to bet that your guy is going to be hurt, if you think that, then you probably shouldn’t sign him. Move on and do it with a clear conscience.”
The release of the domestic violence photos in association with the Greg Hardy case a day after the Cowboys defensive end saw this incident expunged from his record illustrates how the NFL likely wanted that information out there, per Ben Volin of the Boston Globe. The Mecklenburg (N.C.) County District Attorney’s office and the Charlotte Police Department informed the Globe they did not release the photos, and the NFL, due to its independent investigation, was the only other entity with access to the photos and transcript, Volin writes.
Rumors connected Rod Marinelli to a potential return to Tampa Bay prior to signing a three-year extension with the Cowboys in January, according to Jon Machota of the Dallas Morning News. Marinelli has connections to both the Bucs, who employed him as their defensive line coach from 1996-2005, and Lovie Smith, whom Marinelli worked for from 2009-12 with the Bears.
Prior to his father’s death, Cliff Avril told him he would only play in the NFL for 10 years due to health reasons, Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times notes. The 29-year-old Seahawks defensive end’s in his eighth season. “And I plan on it,” he says. “Unless something crazy happens and they’re offering me some ridiculous amount of money.” Avril said. “Then he’d probably tell me to keep playing.”

NFL Mailbags: Jets, Sankey, Titans, Cowboys

November 14th, 2015 at 10:35am CST by Ben Levine

It’s Saturday morning, and that means ESPN.com’s NFL writers are opening their mailbags and answering questions from readers. Let’s take a look at some of the notable whispers, including a cameo from Jim Wyatt of TitansOnline.com…

The Jets defensive line is the only group that’s set up well for the future, and Rich Cimini says the team doesn’t have enough “rising, young talent” on their roster. However, despite nine starters being older than 30 years old, the writer doesn’t believe the team needs a complete rebuild to become a contender.
The Titans activated rookie running back David Cobb yesterday, but Wyatt can’t envision the team parting ways with Bishop Sankey.
With Delanie Walker and Anthony Fasano set to become free agents following next season, Wyatt wonders if the Titans could pursue a tight end either through free agency or the draft this offseason.
Todd Archer believes the Cowboys should let the market develop before they hand out a multi-year contract to Greg Hardy. The writer is skeptical that the organization would actually hand out a big money contract to the embattled defensive end.
In no particular order, Archer says defensive line, cornerback, wide receiver, running back, quarterback, and offensive line are the Cowboys‘ biggest needs heading into next year’s draft.

Lions Notes: Stafford, Megatron, Hardy

November 12th, 2015 at 9:15am CST by Zachary Links

Michael Rothstein of ESPN.com profiled Marty Hurney as a potential GM candidate for the Lions and his background is certainly interesting. Hurney got his start as a sportswriter before moving on to work in Washington’s PR department. Eventually, he took a front office job with the Chargers which led to a salary cap job with the Panthers and in Carolina, he ascended to the GM spot in 2002. Hurney was fired by the Panthers in 2012 and he’s now a radio host in Charlotte. His draft aggressiveness is something that the Lions could use, but Rothstein isn’t sure if he can be lured away from his broadcasting gig. Hurney also made his fair share of mistakes while at the helm of the Panthers and he would have to answer for some questionable decisions.

Here’s more from Detroit:

Ultimately, the Lions’ next GM will have to decide what to do with Matthew Stafford and Calvin Johnson, and the pair’s future in Detroit seems somewhat linked, Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press writes. If the Lions decide to start anew at quarterback, it might not make sense to keep a receiver with one of the highest cap figures in the league. Johnson could ultimately restructure his deal to extend his time in Detroit, but failing that he could very well be following Stafford out the door.
Cowboys defensive end Greg Hardy had his suspension reduced to four games on appeal with the help of the NFLPA. As Lions safety Glover Quin explains, however, the union wasn’t necessarily advocating for him to play, but they were rather looking to ensure that the rules were being enforced fairly. “The P.A. is not the league,” Quin, the Lions’ players rep, told Birkett writes. “The P.A. is the union and our job is to protect the rights of players. So, no, we don’t condone domestic violence. But within the disciplinary phases, if the league does something wrong in the CBA, it’s our job as players as a union to at least protect his rights.”
In a conference call with Detroit reporters, Packers coach Mike McCarthy spoke highly of Eliot Wolf, who could be a candidate for the Lions’ GM job. “Eliot is a fine, young man, excellent co-worker,” McCarthy said of the 33-year-old, according to Birkett. “I really enjoy working with him. He does a great job in our personnel department and I think he’s excellent. He’s a real asset to our organization.” Wolf is thought to be the heir apparent in Green Bay, however, and he might be a longshot to leave the Packers organization.

Cowboys Notes: Hardy, Cassel, Garrett

November 11th, 2015 at 4:54pm CST by Zachary Links

In a recent radio appearance, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said that Tony Romo has offered to help identify his own eventual replacement, adding that Romo has put in time studying what he’d look for in a college quarterback. While the 35-year-old has the team’s long-term future in mind, they’ll be banking on him in the here and now as they get set for his return. Here’s the latest out of Dallas:

Deadspin has obtained the transcript of Greg Hardy‘s confidential reinstatement hearing on March 4th. At the hearing, Hardy’s private defense attorney used the sex lives of Nicole Holder and Kristina Laurence to cast doubt on their version of events. The attorney also opined that Holder tripped and fell and was not struck by the Cowboys defensive end.

This week, Hardy took to Twitter and suggested that he has been the victim of racial discrimination. That is an assertion that does not sit well with everyone and that includes Cowboys coach Jason Garrett, as David Moore of The Dallas Morning News writes. When asked if he fears that Hardy tunes him out, the coach did not give a direct answer. “I think the biggest thing we try to do with any player is just address things when they come up,” Garrett said. “We address them in-house and we deal with things inside these walls and then we move forward. I think a big part of coaching is shaping a mentality and a mindset and it’s shaping behavior. We do that every day with 53 guys on our roster, 10 guys on our practice squad along with coaches and staff.”

Matt Cassel will be making his final start of the season for the Cowboys on Sunday if all goes according to plan, but he hopes that his future in Dallas will extend beyond 2015, Todd Archer of ESPN.com writes. “I don’t think about [next year] at all, to be honest with you,” Cassel said. “At this point in the season my main focus is all about this week. We’ll cross that bridge when it comes here. If you’re asking me would I like to be a Dallas Cowboy for a long period of time? Absolutely.“

Sunday Roundup: Hardy, L. McCown, Welker

November 8th, 2015 at 12:47pm CST by Rory Parks

As this week’s games get underway in full force, let’s take a look at some notes from around the league:

Rick Stroud of The Tampa Bay Times, citing ESPN’s Adam Schefter, reports that the Buccaneers put together a contract structure for Greg Hardy that the Cowboys ultimately mirrored, but Tampa Bay’s contract was contingent on the club meeting with Hardy for evaluation. Once it became clear that such a meeting was not possible, the Bucs pulled the offer (Twitter links).
Katherine Terrell of The Times-Picayune writes that Saints backup quarterback Luke McCown will get a second opinion on his back injury this week, but Terrell’s source indicates that McCown will likely require season ending surgery. As Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets, the news is fairly significant, as New Orleans has never had to rely on a rookie to back up Drew Brees.
Ian Rapoport of NFL.com writes that free agent wide receiver Wes Welker is still waiting for his phone to ring, and that he has passed both physicals he has taken this year. He wants to play for a contender, and he has instructed his agent to reach out again to the teams on his list to see if there is a fit.
ESPN’s Jane McManus tweets that the NFL’s investigation into Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel‘s recent encounter with police is expected to conclude this week. McManus notes that the police report and various witness testimony have complicated the investigation.
Although there was more league-wide effort to make a deal prior to this year’s trade deadline than in seasons past, Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports writes that only one trade was made because the demand from sellers was too great. The Browns and 49ers in particular asked for compensation that rival executives believed was unreasonable.
Jason Fitzgerald of OverTheCap.com takes a detailed look at the 2016 wide receiver free agent class and the types of contracts some of the bigger names in the class can expect to land. Fitzgerald says the best player on that list, Alshon Jeffery, is better equipped to handle a franchise tag should the Bears go that route because he is so young and the tag will not impact the way teams view his future as long as he remains healthy.
ESPN’s Adam Caplan tweets that the Jaguars are likely to part ways with Toby Gerhart at season’s end.
Likewise, Jordan Raanan of NJ.com believes Jon Beason has played his last game for the Giants (Twitter link).

Latest On Greg Hardy, Cowboys

November 6th, 2015 at 7:42pm CST by Luke Adams

7:42pm: Jerry Jones has issued a statement in light of today’s events (Twitter link via ESPN’s Todd Archer):

“While we did not have access to the photos that became public today, we were and are aware of the serious nature of this incident. We as an organization take very this seriously. We do not condone domestic violence. We entered into the agreement with Greg fully understanding that there would be scrutiny and criticism. We have given Greg a second chance. He is a member of our team and someone who is grateful for the opportunity he has been given to move forward with his life and his career.”

4:09pm: Sources tell David Moore of the Dallas Morning News that the photos published today by Deadspin were not made available to the Cowboys. However, those sources stressed that the team was aware of those photos and “had an understanding of what they showed.”

2:34pm: Approximately a year and a half after Greg Hardy was arrested on misdemeanor charges of assault and communicating threats in Charlotte, Deadspin’s Diana Moskovitz has an in-depth report on the events of that night, citing police reports and photos that had not previously been made public. The details – and the photos – are ugly, and raise more questions about how much Jerry Jones and the Cowboys knew before signing Hardy to a one-year contract this offseason.

According to David Moore of the Dallas Morning News (via Twitter), Cowboys officials are aware of the photos that have surfaced of Nicole Holder’s injuries, and have no comment. Given how often Jerry and Stephen Jones speak publicly about the Cowboys, it should only be a matter of time until they have to address the latest Hardy report in some form or another, but there has been no statement from the club yet.

Although they haven’t spoken yet today, both Jerry and Stephen Jones have publicly voiced a desire in recent weeks to extend Hardy beyond the 2015 season, despite his continued questionable behavior both on and off the field. It’s hard to imagine the Joneses doubling down on that sentiment now, but they’ve given no indication yet that their stance on Hardy has changed.

As a result of the NFL’s own investigation into the Hardy situation, the league had access to all the photos of Holder’s injuries published today by Deadspin, and viewed seven additional photos, according to Joseph Person of the Charlotte Observer (Twitter links). The NFL took that evidence into consideration when making the decision to suspend Hardy for 10 games, though that penalty was reduced to four games after the defensive end appealed it.

As for the Cowboys, they signed Hardy before the NFL announced a suspension, and it’s not clear whether or not they’d seen the same photos the league did. Of course, as Ed Werder of ESPN.com tweets, if the Joneses hadn’t been aware of the extent of the evidence against Hardy before today, it’s likely because they chose not to look too closely.

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