The Seahawks were scared off by Greg Hardy’s legal history and his potential punishment from the league.
It was either that or the size of the contract Dallas was offering him.
Seahawks General Manager John Schneider said Hardy’s background was the biggest factor in their pursuit of the free agent defensive end not going any further.
Via, Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times, Schneider was asked if their reluctance was based on Hardy’s off-field situation.
“Absolutely, yeah,” Schneider said. “Yes. That was the primary thing.”
But unlike the Buccaneers, who swore they weren’t interested in Hardy at any price (which precisely no one in the league believes), Schneider admitted cost became a factor as well, when Hardy found someone willing to give him the potential to earn $13.1 million.
“It was like, you have the background,” Schneider said. “You are trying to get more and more background on it, the situation itself and then when we found out what his level of compensation was going to be it was pretty easy for us to just walk away from it.”
So they were interested. But not really. Especially when they found out he wouldn’t be cheap, like previous free agent pass-rusher additions.
Schneider also said he wasn’t sure where the reports about defensive end Michael Bennett wanting a trade came from.
“It’s my understanding that Michael is very happy in Seattle and loves playing there, so that’s really about all I can say about it,” he said. “He’s never asked to be traded.”
So there you have it. The Seahawks are set at defensive end. Especially at the current market rates.