The future of new Dallas Cowboys defensive end Greg Hardy is muddy, obfuscated, difficult to discern at best.
The 26-year-old defensive end remains on NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell's exempt list, meaning his status is, essentially, in limbo.
Per the latest NFL guidelines for domestic violence issues, put into place after the Ray Rice, Adrian Peterson, Ray McDonald, Jonathan Dwyer - and yes, Greg Hardy - incidents, Hardy's charges would mean a minimum six-game suspension. His immediate NFL future is clouded, though, by the fact that he appealed the initial verdict and the charges were dismissed, thanks in large part to the fact that the victim failed to appear in court.
Rumors emerged in the wake of the Cowboys surprising decision to add Hardy that Dallas believed the suspension may actually be for just four games and others have since noted the suspension could turn out to be as little as one to two games.
According to David Newton of ESPN, the NFL has the option to suspend Hardy for more than six games "if officials feel there was enough evidence from his domestic violence case to warrant that," and some believe that may, in fact, turn out to be the case.
"There are those in the league office, though, who wouldn't be troubled to see Hardy remain on the Commissioner's Exempt List and off the field for a long time more, so disgusted are they by his purported actions," writes Judy Battista of NFL.com. "Commissioner Roger Goodell initially went easy on Ray Rice because a cadre of people lined up to tell him that Rice was fundamentally a good guy who had made a horrible mistake when he punched his fiancée. The league bought into that line of thinking. But as it pursues the Hardy investigation, it won't be giving Hardy any similar benefit of the doubt. As difficult as it was to watch the video of Rice in that elevator, the statements from Hardy's alleged victim are even more chilling. When you're being unfavorably compared to Rice, well, that doesn't bode well in a league that has publicly declared it will not be fooled again."
Rick Gosselin of The Dallas Morning News - while taking Dallas to task for bringing on board such a giant character question mark after touting the building of the latest Cowboys team with "the right kind of guys" - went back to his pre-draft notes to see what was said about Hardy, the former star college defensive end touted by some as "the most talented player" in the 2010 draft but who then subsequently fell to the sixth round.
"One general manager said, 'when he decides to play, he's the most talented player in the draft.' A scout called him, 'the most talented defensive end in the draft.' Another scout said, 'as pure a pass rusher as there is in this draft,'" Gosselin reveals.
There's no doubting that Hardy, who posted nine sacks in his last four games for the Panthers, has immense talent, but a potential head case that faced maturity issues in college and has reportedly brought those problems and more with him to the professional ranks may not be shown much leniency by the NFL's disciplinary arm.
For the Cowboys, adding Hardy was a desperation move built off their dire need to add a more consistent pass-rush punch and, as Gosselin notes, they did well to protect themselves financially from Hardy's looming suspension.
Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones told Darin Gantt of Pro Football Talk while at the NFL owners meetings in Phoenix Monday that "we had our eyes open" when it came to the potentiality of Hardy not playing in all, or most, of the games next season, thus the odd structure of a contract that could pay him up to $13.1 million but has a guaranteed salary of just $750,000.
If Hardy winds up missing more than six games, Cowboys fans can at least take solace in the fact that the Jones' checkbook won't take a hit, though the product on the field may very well suffer.
Still, while there has been much consternation and hand-wringing in recent days over the Cowboys decision to bring Hardy into the fold, should he wind up providing a pivotal sack or two come next December, his domestic violence charges and early season suspension will be all but forgotten.
