Dallas Cowboys released defensive end Anthony Hargrove on Thursday just one month after signing the much-maligned NFL veteran, according to a source.
The Cowboys signed Hargrove, 29, last month to a one-year, veteran-minimum deal in hopes he could add depth behind starters DeMarcus Ware and Anthony Spencer.
But Hargrove didn’t show the Cowboys enough after taking a year off from football to be a part of the 90-player roster that will go into training camp next month in Oxnard, Calif. He struggled with his conditioning during Cowboys off-season practices, spending several sessions workout out on the side.
Hargrove hadn’t played in a game since Christmas Eve 2011. He sat out the 2012 season after he was suspended as part of the New Orleans Saints’ bounty scandal. He received an eight-game ban from NFL commissioner Roger Goodell after the league said that from 2009 to 2011 the Saints ran a program that paid defensive players improper cash bonuses for hits that injured opponents.
Hargrove’s suspension was eventually reduced to two games, but he never signed with another team after Green Bay released him during the preseason last year.
One month before his 30th birthday, Hargrove is now facing an up-hill battle to continue his eight-year NFL career.
Hargrove, a third-round pick in 2004 by St. Louis, also served a yearlong suspension in 2008 for his third violation of the league’s substance abuse policy. He won a Super Bowl ring with the Saints in February 2010.
Hargrove was able to get the Cowboys to give him a chance despite him joining the latest concussion lawsuit against the NFL in early April.
The Cowboys signed Hargrove, 29, last month to a one-year, veteran-minimum deal in hopes he could add depth behind starters DeMarcus Ware and Anthony Spencer.
But Hargrove didn’t show the Cowboys enough after taking a year off from football to be a part of the 90-player roster that will go into training camp next month in Oxnard, Calif. He struggled with his conditioning during Cowboys off-season practices, spending several sessions workout out on the side.
Hargrove hadn’t played in a game since Christmas Eve 2011. He sat out the 2012 season after he was suspended as part of the New Orleans Saints’ bounty scandal. He received an eight-game ban from NFL commissioner Roger Goodell after the league said that from 2009 to 2011 the Saints ran a program that paid defensive players improper cash bonuses for hits that injured opponents.
Hargrove’s suspension was eventually reduced to two games, but he never signed with another team after Green Bay released him during the preseason last year.
One month before his 30th birthday, Hargrove is now facing an up-hill battle to continue his eight-year NFL career.
Hargrove, a third-round pick in 2004 by St. Louis, also served a yearlong suspension in 2008 for his third violation of the league’s substance abuse policy. He won a Super Bowl ring with the Saints in February 2010.
Hargrove was able to get the Cowboys to give him a chance despite him joining the latest concussion lawsuit against the NFL in early April.
