AP

Taking a page from the Ray Rice playbook, which consists of periodically granting interviews in strategic fashion in the hopes of generating employment interest, free agent defensive end Greg Hardy has broken a silence that no one was really clamoring for him to break.

Hardy, who has been unwanted in the current free-agency cycle and largely forgotten by the media, has sat down for an “exclusive” interview with ESPN’s Adam Schefter. A preview of the session will air Monday on NFL Live.

It’s a nothing-to-lose move for Hardy, whose most recent team in Dallas is either wisely slow-playing its desire to bring him back or genuinely not interested. Along with, by all appearances, the rest of the league.

But with ESPN’s help (in the same way that multiple media outlets have from time to time helped Ray Rice, to no avail), Hardy may be able to get his latest second chance. Somewhere.

The Cowboys signed Hardy a year ago, while he was facing a suspension for violating the league’s Personal Conduct Policy following an altercation with an ex-girlfriend. After returning from the suspension, which was cut from 10 games to four by the league’s hand-picked arbitrator, Hardy created several on-field and off-field distractions for the Cowboys, who seemed to become increasingly cool about their interest in bringing him back.

The decision to speak out suggests that there are currently no offers on the table anywhere for Hardy, or that any offers are woefully substandard. Rarely if ever does a move like this change a player’s prospects. But it can’t make them any worse.