Greg Hardy Signing Shouldn’t Change Dallas Cowboys Draft Plan

It doesn’t take much research into the rosters of NFL franchises that make the playoffs and contend for conference championships consistently to find some common denominators. Surely you will find a Darrelle Revis here or there. Those type of signings are rarely successful.

The most striking commonality is that they build through the draft. They also develop the players they draft.

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When the Dallas Cowboys ventured onto the creaky limb to sign Greg Hardy, a common refrain was that they could change their draft board and forget about utilizing a high pick for the defensive line. That is the farthest thing from the truth.

Another common fact about successful franchises is how well they utilize the draft to build their team using the line of scrimmage as a priority.

Starting in 2012, the Cowboys have executed a sound plan to rebuild their offensive line. The reward was one of the most dominant units in professional football in 2014.

In last years NFL Draft they used their second round pick for defensive end Demarcus Lawrence. Hopefully Lawrence along with Tyrone Crawford are the first two pieces of the foundation of a dominant defensive line.

They need to continue down that path in this years draft and look to add another solid piece to the line. And I don’t mean drafting several late round prayers.

But you say the pass rush savior has been secured with Hardy?

Hardy’s contract has been dissected and discussed in the media for a week now. One aspect of Hardy’s contract Mr Rosenhaus negotiated with the Cowboys didn’t surprise and that was the fact that Hardy cannot be designated with the franchise tag after the 2015 season.

Raise your hand if that shocked you. I don’t see any hands. One could see that coming a mile away.

This is a simple case of both sides using each other. Hardy will use the Cowboys to get back into the good graces of the NFL and showcase his talents. The Cowboys will use Hardy to create pressure on the opposing offense and the opposing quarterback.

Before the Hardy signing, there was not one player on the Cowboys defense that put any fear or consternation into minds of the opposing offensive coordinators. Much less a player they would have to game plan for.

For what defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli did with this defense last year, they should build a statue for him outside AT&T Stadium. Winning twelve games while being twenty eighth in the league in sacks is an unbelievable statistic that didn’t receive a lot of attention.

Although no one knows the punishment that defensive end Greg Hardy will receive from the league, most of those in the know believe it will be is six games.

The question then becomes, do you really change your draft for a player that will likely suit up for just 10 games and then be out of town in the blink of an eye after the 2015 season?

If Hardy can walk the straight and narrow for one year in Dallas, there will be several teams chasing him and throwing Ndamukong Suh type dollars at Mr. Rosenhaus in March 2016.

The best Cowboys fans can hope for is that Hardy is a stop gap and might make a difference at the end of close games when the opposing offense needs to be stopped to secure a win and Hardy can keep up his record setting sack pace numbers.

All of those outcomes depend on the Cowboys being lucky enough to get through the summer and early fall without Hardy falling off the tightrope he will be walking on.

With his history going all the way back to college, betting on Hardy isn’t a great idea. One can only hope Hardy will be motivated by the pot of gold waiting for him at the end of the 2015 rainbow.

The answer for the Cowboys is to draft smart, draft defense and develop players with good coaching and build the defense for the future. The answer is not a hope and prayer and the future is not named Greg Hardy.

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