NFL: Greg Hardy's Suspension Reduced From Ten To Four Games

Now Hardy is set to return on Oct. 11 when the Cowboys face the Patriots. (Good one, NFL. Have Hardy make his debut against the team that has their own appeal pending with Tom Brady and the Deflategate melodrama.)

There's more good news for Hardy: As CBSSports.com's John Breech noted in March, a large portion of Hardy's contract is going to be paid out in "per-game" roster bonuses. For every regular-season game Hardy's on the Cowboys active roster this year, he'll make $578,125.


With the suspension reduced to four games, Hardy is now only out $2,312,500 instead of $5,781,250. And if Hardy reaches 14 sacks, which becomes much more likely, he'll earn a $1.8 million bonus.

This is also good news for the Cowboys' defense (duh), which ranked 22nd in the NFL last season, according to Football Outsiders. The team also added cornerback Byron Jones (first round) and rush linebacker Randy Gregory (second round) in the 2015 NFL Draft.

Of course, the appeals process may not be over.