On Thursday, reports surfaced that the Raiders are interested in free-agent defensive end Greg Hardy. On Friday, owner Mark Davis slammed the door. Hard.
“False, falser and falsest,” Davis told Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News. “That is not true.”
It appears that Davis specifically was addressing the question of whether the Raiders are negotiating with Hardy. Davis was a bit more vague on the question of whether his employees charged with acquiring football players may be interested in acquiring Hardy.
“I’m saying that he’s somebody we are not negotiating with and I don’t believe we would be interested in at this point in time,” Davis said. “I can tell you this: It has not been brought up to me and it would have to come to me.”
But it wouldn’t necessarily come to Davis spontaneously, the moment someone working in football operations develops an interest in Hardy. It’s possible that it would percolate as the person(s) interested in Hardy devise a way to persuade the guy who signs the checks to sign off.
It’s now clear that Davis won’t.
The force of the denial from Davis regarding the lack of negotiations isn’t surprising. Anyone who demonstrates any interest in Hardy risks a negative P.R. consequence, given the lingering aftermath of the Ray Rice in-elevator video. The other concerns with Hardy are: (1) he still may be suspended by the NFL; and (2) there’s no guarantee he won’t find trouble again.
