Sportsnet reports CFL is blocking Riders adding Greg Hardy, Chris Jones denies

There's a he-said, he-said controversy currently going on in the CFL, and it's about a highly-controversial subject: Greg Hardy. Hardy, the former Carolina Panthers and Dallas Cowboys defensive end who was found guilty by a judge in 2014 of assaulting his ex-girlfriend Nicole Holder (the charges were later dropped when he appealed and requested a jury trial and she refused to testify) and suspended for 10 games by the NFL (later reduced to four), is one of the most criticized players out there, and that makes sense given the widely-reported details of the situation that led to that assault charge. According to a report from Sportsnet's Arash Madani and Justin Dunk Tuesday morning, the Saskatchewan Roughriders are trying to add Hardy to their negotiation list, but the league office has put that on hold while reviewing the situation. Saskatchewan head coach and general manager Chris Jones denied that at his press conference Tuesday afternoon, though:

According to CJME's Jamie Nye, Jones said the Riders tried to add Hardy after that call, the league blocked them back then, and there's been nothing on that front since. That would suggest that either the Sportsnet report is wrong or Jones is lying, as Madani and Dunk's piece is quite adamant this is currently going on. The CFL offered no comment to them, but they reported that sources say this is happening now:

There is precedent for the league office to block all teams from signing a player, as that happened for the first time in 2014 when former commissioner Mark Cohon told all CFL clubs that Ray Rice was off-limits (following his domestic violence arrest, the release of the video from that, and his release from the Baltimore Ravens). In many respects, Hardy's case is similar to Rice's; the details of his run-in with the law are so problematic, and have been so widely publicized, that any club that signs him is going to incur substantial backlash, and the league as a whole will take flak too.

Some players with a history of domestic violence are currently playing in the CFL, including Riders' DB Justin Cox (who was arrested for domestic violence while at Mississippi State in 2014, had those charges dropped when he pled guilty to a lesser charge of trespassing, but then was arrested and charged with aggravated domestic violence and burglary in 2015 and cut by the NFL's Kansas City Chiefs as a result), and that's been the case before; at least four players with past accusations of domestic violence were playing in the league the year they banned Rice. However, it's not wrong to suggest that cases like Rice's and Hardy's are on a different level, especially when it comes to public backlash.

For one thing, it appears the legal proceedings against Hardy for domestic violence went further than they did against Cox. For another, everyone associates Hardy with domestic violence given the graphic reports on what he did; there don't appear to be many details out there on just what happened with Cox. That doesn't make his actions less problematic, and it doesn't necessarily mean the Riders are right to employ him. Still, it helps explain why bringing him in is a decision the league would let them make, whereas one on Hardy would require more league scrutiny. (It's notable that there have been next to no protests about Cox so far; if fans have an issue with the team employing him, they should make their voice heard. It seems highly likely there would be high-profile protests if a CFL team signed Greg Hardy, adding to the point that these situations are not the same.)

What about the CFL's overall policy on violence against women, which received so much praise when it was unveiled last year? Well, as noted at the time, it doesn't cover pre-CFL actions; it works with players who are in the league to educate them on these issues and have them speak out in their communities, and punishes those who slip up while in the CFL, but doesn't apply a formulaic approach to players' pasts. That means that any interdiction of teams signing players over pre-CFL actions would have to come from the commissioner on a case-by-case basis, which is what Madani and Dunk are reporting is happening here. That's not necessarily a bad thing, as these cases do carry a lot of complications that make it hard to evaluate them across the board, but it does open the league up for criticism of an inconsistent approach.

From this corner, the CFL should leave Greg Hardy alone, as even his considerable pass-rushing talent doesn't seem to make it worth the backlash that would come from employing him. It's notable that Hardy doesn't appear to have shown much remorse or to have learned from this situation, either, and that certainly raises questions of if he might cause problems again. It looks like this is where this might wind up regardless of the dispute over what the Riders are trying to do, as Jones certainly didn't make it sound like they're all that interested in him, and even if they did successfully put him on their negotiation list, that wouldn't mean he'd wind up in Canada; NFL teams like the Jaguars still seem interested in him as a potential mid-season replacement, which would likely be much more lucrative than playing in the CFL.

This controversy about the Riders' interest in Hardy is certainly notable, though, and it raises questions regardless of who's right. If Sportsnet's correct and Saskatchewan is currently trying to neg-list Hardy, why would Jones lie about that? If they're wrong, why would their sources make this allegation, and why would the league not shoot it down when asked for comment, instead of just saying "No comment"? In any case, it's resulted in Hardy's name being linked to the CFL, and that's not a terribly positive thing even if it never goes further than this.

Update: The league told TSN's Gary Lawless they talked about Hardy with the Riders before the season, which supports Jones' story and raises questions about Sportsnet's story. The league also told Lawless it was the Riders' decision not to add him to the list in the end, which seems contrary to what Jones said. That seems curious; yes, there's been a change in commissioner since the Rice ruling, but Hardy's case seems just as egregious and just as prone to create massive backlash. Why wouldn't the CFL want to ban him?

In any case, this is probably even more moot now, as Jones said the Riders have moved on. Moreover, there were reports Tuesday afternoon that the NFL's Washington franchise is considering Hardy, and although those may not come true, they would seem to be more proof there's still NFL interest in Hardy. That makes it even less likely he'd come north even if the Riders or another CFL team wanted him. But the league office has left that door open, and that may draw them some criticism.