NFL Rumors: Greg Hardy says he’ll return to Carolina Panthers if they can afford him
By Josh Hill
The Carolina Panthers looked to be dead in the water three weeks into their 2013 campaign, but the team turned it around and ended up with the No. 2 seed in the NFC playoffs. Most of the success is owed to Ron Rivera for turning the team around, but he was aided by the fact that he had a vicious defense that became a monster as the season progressed.
Greg Hardy was the lead monster — literally. He nicknamed himself The Kraken and lived up to the moniker with his play in 2013. That ferocious play on the Panthers defense is going to get Hardy paid this offseason but the question is will the Panthers be the team paying him? According to The Charlotte Observer, so far that doesn’t appear to be the case.
"“They are still working on their cap situation as I understand,” he said. “We’re playing the waiting game right now…. If they can afford me, man, I’d love to be there. That’s my team. My family. We got a good thing going right now.”"
Key phrase in Hardy’s quote being ‘if they can afford me’, which is the multi-million dollar question. It doesn’t sound like Hardy is open to a discount to return to Carolina, but he’s not going to tip his hand in that direction this early on in the negotiation.