CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Monday’s deadline for NFL teams to place the franchise tag on players for 2015 was a reminder of how the Carolina Panthers were burned for using the tag on defensive end Greg Hardy a year ago.
It also could be considered a reminder of how fortunate the Panthers were that they didn’t sign a player no longer in their future plans to a long-term deal instead.
The Panthers used the tag that guaranteed Hardy $13.1 million because it was cheaper for the then-salary-cap strapped team than signing the 2013 Pro Bowl selection long term.
It became a wasted investment as Hardy played only one game while waiting for his domestic violence case to be resolved.
Hardy remains Carolina’s most high-profile free agent again this season, but he is not in the team’s future plans.
It makes sense.
The Panthers wanted to keep Hardy last year to keep intact the front seven that finished second in the NFL in total defense. The front seven of a unit that finished 10th in the league this year without Hardy is intact.
The biggest decision is whether to re-sign aging defensive tackles Colin Cole, 34, and/or Dwan Edwards, 33.
Hardy is scheduled to become a free agent on March 10. He remains on the NFL’s exempt list, where he has been since mid-September, while the league conducts its own investigation into whether he violated the personal conduct policy.
A league source told ESPN.com on Friday that Hardy is seeking immediate reinstatement, but since Hardy hasn’t been suspended the league insists there’s nothing to be reinstated from.
The league hasn’t set a timetable on when its investigation will end. As reported by ESPN.com on Feb. 19, evidence the NFL sought from Hardy’s July 15 trial could not be obtained because it already had been returned to the district attorney’s office and Hardy’s lawyers.
The district attorney’s office told ESPN.com it does not return evidence. There’s no reason for Hardy’s attorney to share evidence from a trial in which a Mecklenburg County judge found his client guilty of assaulting and threatening to kill ex-girlfriend Nicole Holder in July.
That verdict was set aside when Hardy asked for a jury trial. The charges were dropped on February 9 because Holder would not cooperate with the office of the district attorney, who said the accuser reached a financial settlement with Hardy.
Hardy still faces possible suspension by the league.
Any team that pursues Hardy in free agency will have to deal with that.
Monday was just a reminder of what the Panthers dealt with in 2014.