hardy recovered from his injury and played for the cowboys in the 2002 nfl season, finishing the season ranked third on the team in both total (114) and solo tackles(73), while making 2 sacks, 18 quarterback pressures, 8 tackles for loss, 10 passes defensed and 3 forced fumbles. he played outside linebacker, lining up as a defensive end in some passing downs. because of salary cap issues, he was released on february 27, 2003, in order to avoid a $5.025 million option bonus if the cowboys retained him.