The Dallas Cowboys signed DE Greg Hardy (Mississippi) to a one-year contract on Wednesday. In five career seasons (2010-14) with the Carolina Panthers, he totaled 204 tackles, 34.0 sacks, 44 tackles for loss, 88 quarterback hurries, 14 pass breakups, seven forced fumbles and a fumble recovery while playing in 63 games with 40 starts.
Hardy had a career year in 2013, collecting a career-best 15 sacks to finish third in the NFL while tying a Panthers team record, and he was named to his first Pro Bowl and earned second-team All-Pro honors from the Associated Press for his efforts. He had four sacks at Atlanta (12/29/13) to establish a single-game team record. Hardy also led the team with 38 quarterback pressures and added a career-high 67 tackles.
He had 11 sacks in 2012 – good for second on the team – and tied for the team lead with 23 pressures while also posting 65 tackles. Hardy’s combined 26.0 sacks between the 2012 and 2013 seasons were the fifth-most sacks by any player during that time. He also became only the fifth player in team history to post 10-or-more sacks in multiple seasons.
In 2014 Hardy started the season opener for Carolina, but was inactive in the team’s second game before being placed on the exempt/commissioner’s permission list on Sept. 17 for the remainder of the season.
Hardy was originally a sixth round (175th overall) choice by the Carolina Panthers in the 2010 NFL Draft.
In a statement from Jerry Jones:
“This agreement involved an important element of our defensive scheme, specifically the pass rush, at a position that we felt we needed to address this off season. We entered this free agency period with the idea of utilizing key resources to help us on the defensive side of the ball.
“Greg is a proven and experienced player whose production has allowed him to play at a Pro Bowl level. This is a one-year agreement that is incentive based and heavily weighted toward his participation in games.
“We have spent a great deal of time over the last two days in meeting with Greg directly and gaining a solid understanding of what he is all about as a person and as a football player. A thorough background review of him, involving many elements of our organization, has been ongoing for the last few weeks.
“Obviously a great deal of our study was dedicated to the issue of domestic violence, and the recent events that associated Greg with that issue. We know that Greg’s status remains under review by the National Football League.
“Our organization understands the very serious nature of domestic violence in our society and in our league. We know that Greg has a firm understanding of those issues as well.”
