Panthers’ Greg Hardy inactive vs. Lions

The Carolina Panthers have officially made the decision to deactivate defensive end Greg Hardy going into their Week 2 matchup against the Detroit Lions.

The decision to deactivate Hardy comes as a surprise as the Panthers have intentions on letting Hardy play this weekend. But it’s been done.

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With pressure currently on Roger Goodell, the NFL, and the Baltimore Ravens mishandling of the Ray Rice domestic violence situation initially, many have turned their eyes to the Carolina Panthers who have willingly allowed Hardy, who had been convicted of domestic abuse–unlike Ray Rice–to continue playing on the team.

And the Panthers have responded in typical, public relations fashion: doing whatever is feasible to save face–as of now.

The real question is what lies ahead for Panthers and Hardy. Despite being convicted, an appeal has pushed Hardy’s domestic violence trial to November meaning the NFL likely won’t issue out a punishment until then, leaving all acts of punishment in the hands of the Panthers ownership and front office.

And they’ve many options. The first would be an obvious suspension from the team for ‘x’ amount of games. The second–and option many would want–would be releasing Hardy from the team similar to what the Baltimore Ravens decided to do with Ray Rice following the release of video showing Rice brutally knocking his then-fiance unconscious.

Regardless, the Panthers are making some kind of statement here, even if it’s forced by outside powers. As the old saying goes, better late than never.