Last season, the Dallas Cowboys took tons of heat (and justifiably so) for signing defensive end Greg Hardy and allowing him to play football after his domestic violence incident in May 2014 during his tenure with the Carolina Panthers. Hardy was very much unapologetic for his actions, but didn’t demonstrate the best behavior off the field by any means.
As a result, no NFL team has shown interest in signing the free agent, wanting to avoid public relations backlash, in addition to his apparent attitude problems with coaches and team officials. But according to ProFootballTalk’s Mike Florio, Hardy worked out for the Jacksonville Jaguars this week. Hardy apparently spent two days visiting and working out with the team, who have made some significant changes to their roster during the offseason.
Despite this, Florio followed up this information with another report saying that the Jags don’t have plans to sign Hardy now, but could in the future:
“Per a league source with knowledge of the situation, the Jaguars wanted to learn more about Hardy so that they’ll know more about him if at some point down the road they need him.
That could be in a week. That could be in a month. That could be late in the regular season or in the postseason.
If they’d been blown away by Hardy, they likely would have signed him now. As it stands, they were doing their due diligence regarding who he is as a player and his issues in Carolina and Dallas.”
Florio added that the Jaguars have had Hardy on their radar since March, but wanted to see how he would behave during the offseason. Along with this, Florio believes that the Jaguars won’t let public reactions be a factor in their move. If the front office and coaching staff thinks Hardy can help, they will likely sign him.
That’s a very bold move for the franchise if they decide to go in that direction. But the Jaguars are desperate for a playoff appearance, something they haven’t had in nearly a decade.
[PFT]
