Dallas Cowboys fans were likely none too pleased to hear that free agent addition Greg Hardy would miss the first ten games of the 2015 season due to suspension. The Cowboys ranked in the bottom third of the league in sacks last year and were hoping Hardy's presence would make life a lot tougher on opposing quarterbacks. Dallas has a lot of question marks in its secondary and improving the pass-rush was one way they hoped to address it.
Although Hardy is guaranteed to miss a chunk of time, it may not end up being a full ten games. ESPN Cowboys reporter Todd Archer was asked if he saw Hardy's suspension being lessened in his weekly mailbag.
"Based on precedent, I can see the suspension being reduced," Archer wrote. "Will it go from 10 games to four games? I would just be guessing. But we can look at the Adrian Peterson case. In court, the league was found to have applied the new personal conduct policy to Peterson despite his transgressions occurring under the former policy. The same argument can be made - and likely will be made - for Hardy. In his letter to Hardy, commissioner Roger Goodell said the penalty handed out would be the same under the new or old policy. There will be many maneuverings that will take place before the final suspension is decided, but the Peterson case would seem to help Hardy."
How many games Hardy can get back through an appeal remains to be seen but it's likely that his suspension will be reduced somewhat.
Hardy missed all but one game last season after being placed on the NFL's exempt list following a domestic violence incident. From 2012-2013 he recorded 26.0 sacks.
