News broke yesterday that the Washington Redskins will not have OLB Junior Galette for the 2nd consecutive season due to a torn Achilles. Galette confirmed that he will miss the season again, and has still not played a down for the team after being signed last offseason. The signing was controversial because of Galette's off the field concerns, comments about former coaches and teammates, and unresolved court cases. He got the thumbs up from Scot McCloughan:
"We did a lot, a lot of research on him, as we do with everybody," McCloughan told Redskins.com TV's Larry Michael. "But he's got a couple things still pending out there so we had to really look into it, and we did. ... We all got together and asked, ‘Honest opinion, what do you guys think?' and we all had a thumbs up."
Galette has not caused any problems on the team following each signing, but he has also only been healthy for a short amount of time. Now he is out of the lineup again, and the Redskins could use some depth behind starters Ryan Kerrigan and Preston Smith. Free agent Dwight Freeney is not being considered per ESPN's John Keim. But today another name has come out as a possible consideration. Former Carolina Panthers and Dallas Cowboys DE Greg Hardy.
#Redskins internal discussions about how to replace Junior Galette have included Greg Hardy, per sources. Josh Norman would advocate for him
— Ed Werder (@Edwerderespn) July 26, 2016
Hardy is infamous in recent years for a domestic violence case that nearly ended his NFL career. He missed 15 games of the 2014 season while on the Commissioners Exempt list. He was signed by the Cowboys in March last year after the Panthers didn't re-sign him. Hardy then faced a 10 game suspension that was later reduced to 4. His domestic violence case was eventually expunged, but Deadspin published photos from the incident that caused outrage. In 12 games Dallas, he recorded 6 sacks, 35 tackles,1 INT, and1 forced fumble. Dallas moved on.
Ed Werder reports that Hardy's former teammate Josh Norman will advocate for him. Scot McCloughan brought in a few pass rushers this offseason, but none were signed. The Redskins signed Galette last year, had an offer on the table for off-field trouble magnet Aldon Smith last year, and are reportedly considering Greg Hardy this year. Does talent make this signing ok, or is this a hard pass?
UPDATE: Source Fight!
John Keim: For what it's worth, a source said the Redksins won't be signing veteran rushers Greg Hardy or Dwight Freeney now that Galette is out again.
Redskins aren't considering Greg Hardy as option to replace Galette, source says.
— Mike Jones (@MikeJonesWaPo) July 26, 2016
I'm told #Redskins ARE NOT considering signing Greg Hardy at this time, according to a team source. As @MikeJonesWaPo said earlier.
— Brian McNally (@bmcnally14) July 26, 2016
Interest in other free agents:
Also asked If the redskins have any interest in pass rushers like Mike Neal and O'Brien Schofield. Told there wasn't much at this time.
— John Keim (@john_keim) July 26, 2016