NEW YORK -- Greg Hardy tied a franchise record with 15 sacks for the Carolina Panthers this season. He won't turn 26 until next July. These are the types of guys you want to keep in the building.
That's not assured for the man who calls himself The Kraken. The Panthers have salary cap issues, and the team is well aware Cam Newton's rookie contract is reaching its back end.
Hardy has made it clear he'll be willing to play on the franchise tag (expected to be about $12 million for a defensive end), but general manager Dave Gettleman didn't sound certain keeping Hardy would be financially possible.
Hardy's not losing sleep.
"It's a football game. It's a game, so you really can't put too much stock in stressing about something like that," he told Around The League at Radio Row. "I'm in the best position of my life regardless of what happens, so I definitely believe in letting my agent and my manager and my people handle that and I can focus on football and entertaining you guys."
Speaking of entertaining, we asked what the Panthers need to do to get to the Super Bowl stage next season.
"Give me a phone call and offer me a crapload of money," he said with a grin. "That's all. Nothing too serious."
*Live from New York, it's the NFL "Around The League Podcast" Super Bowl Preview! *
