Greg Hardy is wearing out his welcome with the Dallas Cowboys, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, who said that the defensive end was late to a Saturday meeting last week in addition to the Thursday meeting he reportedly missed entirely.
Cowboys reportedly losing patience with Greg Hardy
The Cowboys are losing patience with Hardy after he missed team meetings.
Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Rapoport said that "support is waning" for Hardy, which would be a change of tune after owner Jerry Jones has come to his defense on several occasions, including talking about a contract extension earlier in the year. Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett has set an example in the past, releasing Christine Michael and Corey White after the pair of players were the only two to not to wear a suit during a team road trip, although the performances of the two players certainly factored into their releases.
Of course, cutting a backup running back and a reserve safety isn’t exactly setting a hard-line stance. And it’s worth noting that after months of defending Hardy for his domestic violence history and his callous comments about the matter, that being late to meetings is what is finally causing the Cowboys to lose patience.
Hardy was reportedly fined for missing a meeting last Thursday and played on Sunday despite also being late to the meeting on Saturday. On Friday, Cowboys defensive end Jeremy Mincey came to the defense of his teammate and told Albert Breer of NFL.com that Hardy “feels like the world’s against him.”
“In the end, no one knows the truth [about the domestic incident of 2014] except the people who were there,” Mincey told me. “We can all speculate and say it was this or it was that. I just know he’s working hard on being a better person. We had a heart-to-heart -- I know he feels like the world’s against him.” Mincey advised Hardy to “keep yourself out of harm’s way. And remember, they [the public] can do and say whatever they want to do or say.”
On the field, Hardy has been one of the best players on the Cowboys defense. In five games, he leads the team with four sacks and pulled in an interception. Most of the one-year, $11.3 million contract signed by Hardy in the offseason is available through incentives, so releasing the defensive end wouldn’t be a huge financial hit for the Cowboys.
After talking about a contract extension earlier in the year, Jones has since backed off on those comments. Earlier this week, the Cowboys owner said on his radio show on 105.3 FM The Fan that Hardy could still get an extension if he meets the team’s expectations (via the Fort Worth Star-Telegram):
“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.”
Hardy is due to make $9.25 million in per-game bonuses and has over $1.8 million available to him if he reaches certain incentives for sacks in 2015.
* * *
SB Nation presents: Luke Thomas is Pissed about Greg Hardy, Grantland and more
See More:
