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As the NFL tries to strike the delicate balance between respecting a player’s due-process rights in domestic violence cases and imposing discipline on a player based on an investigation conducted by the team or the league, the Panthers have opted not to take action against defensive end Greg Hardy.

Contrary to a report from Charlotte that the Panthers may cut Hardy by 4:00 p.m. ET on Friday, the Panthers tell PFT that Hardy won’t be cut.

It would be ludicrous to cut him at this point. As a franchise player receiving a fully-guaranteed salary of $13.1 million per year, the Panthers would still pay him the 16 remaining game checks, at a total payout of $12.3 million for nothing in return.

The Panthers could have tried to suspend Hardy up to four weeks without pay for conduct detrimental to the team, and the league could have opted to swoop in and apply the personal-conduct policy before Hardy has a trial by jury. But that’s not how the personal-conduct policy works for most first-time offenders.

Still, as the NFL struggles to display sufficient sensitivity to domestic violence victims, the league needs to consider adopting a more aggressive in-house protocol for investigating whether the player did or didn’t do what he is accused of doing. Otherwise, the time-honored double standard will apply, with teams hiding behind vague notions of the Constitution to justify keeping great players in the lineup and making examples out of the scrubs.