The ruling came down for Tom Brady and Thursday and the quarterback won the battle, having his four-game suspension overturned allowing him to return to the field immediately. Brady was not the only NFL player suspended this offseason as several big names are starting their season on the sidelines. Greg Hardy is one of those players and now that he sees what happened with Brady, he could be hoping for the same outcome.
According to Todd Archer of ESPN.com, Hardy plans on discussing things with the NFL Players Association about his four-game suspension that was reduced from 10 games following a violation of league's personal conduct policy. If Hardy is going to get a ruling in his favor, he needs to move quickly considering the regular season is just over a week away. There is no indication about whether or not Hardy would be able to get a similar outcome to what Brady got, but the defensive end is planning on at least trying as his absence from the team begins Saturday.
The Cowboys have high expectations for Hardy. They signed the defensive end to a one-year contract worth $13.2 million. In his place, Randy Gregory is expected to get the nod after the Cowboys drafted him following a free fall in the draft. Gregory ended up being taken in the second round of the draft, but is showing that he deserved to be a first-round guy with the type of talent he is showing so far on the field. Team owner Jerry Jones expressed his full confidence in Gregory stepping up.
"He's into it. His exuberance - we call it 'youthful,' but his passion - it's all out there in front of him," Jones said, via the team website. "The lights are bright but they're not too bright for him. I think he's going to be a big part of our success this year."
The Cowboys need several rookie players to really step up this season. While Gregory is replacing Hardy, Byron Jones is expected to help after Orlando Scandrick went down for the season with an ACL tear. According to the Dallas Morning News, Jones has been working at both safety and cornerback and will be expected to play both during the year. Morris Claiborne and Brandon Carr are the other two secondary players who will replace Scandrick.
