Garrett to try to bring out Hardy's best

PHOENIX -- NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said Wednesday that potential discipline for Greg Hardy is expected in the "near future," while coach Jason Garrett said that the Dallas Cowboys are "aware something might happen here in the next couple of weeks" and that his team is comfortable with its decision to sign the defensive end.

"We spent a lot of time doing our due diligence on who he is as a person," Garrett said at the NFL's annual meeting, pointing out that he met with Hardy for about three hours.

"We brought him in and spent a couple days with him, so we felt like understanding who he is as a person was a critical piece to this, evaluating who he is a player was a critical piece to it, the structure of the contract was critical to it. At the end of the day, if we didn't believe he could become the right kind of guy for our football team, we wouldn't have signed him."

Hardy could face a league suspension for violating the NFL's personal conduct policy. On May 13, he was arrested and charged with assaulting and threatening to kill his ex-girlfriend, Nicole Holder.

A Mecklenburg (North Carolina) County judge found Hardy guilty on July 15. The verdict was set aside when Hardy requested a jury trial.

All charges were dropped Feb. 9 because Holder refused to cooperate with the district attorney's office after receiving a financial settlement from Hardy.

In an hourlong interview at the NFC coaches breakfast Wednesday, Garrett was peppered with questions on Hardy. He pointed out that Cowboys assistant coach Turner West played on the same high school football team as Hardy and that Cowboys officials spoke with various people at Hardy's alma mater, Mississippi, as well as his former NFL team, the Carolina Panthers.

Garrett said he and Panthers coach Ron Rivera had a good discussion about Hardy here at the owners meetings. Rivera was told that it sounded like he recommended Hardy, but on Wednesday, Rivera said he wouldn't characterize it as that, only that he was answering questions.

"I just told Jason, on the football field, you've got a heck of a young man," he said.

One thing Garrett stressed was that the one-year, $13 million contract Hardy signed was an important part of the team's consideration.

"At the end of it, we decided we could bring him in under the right circumstances -- the conditions of the contract were important. No guaranteed money, earn it every step of the way. At any point, if we don't feel like you're doing what we want you to do as a player and as a person, we can move on from you without any salary-cap consequence, all those things are very important to us," he said.

Garrett was also asked about how a team balances bringing in a talented player whose character might come into question.

"We want to evaluate anybody we bring into our organization as a person and as a player, so we'll go through that process. Certainly we're trying to build the best football team we can, and talent matters," he acknowledged.

"The best players are typically the most talented players, but I'll make an argument that the best players also have the right kind of intangibles, the right kind of character.

"It's our job to bring the best out in all these guys, as players and as people. So I think everyone understands we're trying to build the right kind of football team with the talent level, with also who they are. It's our job to create the environment, and it's the player's job to respond, and it's our job to hold the player accountable."

ESPN.com Panthers reporter David Newton contributed to this report.