Michael David Smith at profootballtalk.com notes that Greg Hardy got upset when he saw that fellow free agent Aldon Smith got signed before he did.
“Who’s worse, Hardy or Smith? That’s a hard question to answer. But Smith got no signing bonus and nothing guaranteed from the Raiders, and Smith remains suspended by the NFL and won’t even be eligible for reinstatement until November. So the Raiders weren’t taking much of a risk when they signed him.
“NFL teams do think, however, that signing Hardy is a risk. He was suspended after an ugly domestic violence accusation in 2014 with the Panthers, he clashed with teammates and coaches in 2015 with the Cowboys, and he showed no remorse for his actions in an interview that aired this week on ESPN.”
It’s evident that Hardy has no idea just how radioactive he is right now. Smith has had a long list of legal issues but they’re nothing compared to a remorseless animal who beats women. The NFL wears pink in October in support of breast cancer victims and is trying desperately to increase its appeal to women. signing Hardy sends a bad message that dmages not just the reputation of the team that signs him, but that of the whole league.
There is one other thing that is affecting Hardy’s ability to find a team to take him on and it is arguably more important to at least some of the teams with a reputation for signing dodgy players. Given a chance to show that he can still perform on the field, Hardy produced just six sacks and only 1.5 after Thanksgiving.
It was bad enough that Hardy found a place with the Cowboys last year. But combine his performance in 2015 with his past and the bet here is no team will sign him now no matter the financial risk.