Grading the Packers’ Free-Agent Signing of Mecole Hardman

After Mecole Hardman’s overtime touchdown catch lifted the Kansas City Chiefs past the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LVIII, Chiefs coach Andy Reid said Hardman “can run like a son of a gun.”

That son-of-a-gun speed should be put to good use by coach Matt LaFleur after the Green Bay Packers and Hardman agreed to a one-year contract on Tuesday.

With Christian Watson’s torn ACL, the Packers don’t have an abundance of speed at receiver.

With the possibility that Keisean Nixon will focus on playing cornerback rather than returning kicks, the Packers needed another option on special teams.

Hardman, who has 4.33 speed in the 40 and a Pro Bowl track record as a returner, checks both boxes.

“We have a lot of confidence in what he can do,” Reid said in 2022. “He was coming off of a big year and he’s going to continue to grow here over the next couple of years. So, Mecole has the speed like a Tyreek had – a different player – but he gives you a nice skill-set there with the speed and quickness, and the ability to run with the ball in his hands. He’s a very aggressive runner when he has the ball in his hands.”

A second-round pick in 2019, Hardman was a Pro Bowler and second-team All-Pro as a rookie on the strength of a 26.1-yard average on kickoff returns and a 9.3-yard average on punt returns. He had a 104-yard kickoff-return touchdown in Week 17 against the Chargers and a 30-yard touchdown catch against the Packers in Week 8.

Hardman never quite became a star, though. On offense, he averaged 20.7 yards per catch in 2019 but never more than 13.7 the rest of his career. He caught 59 passes for 693 yards in 2021 but 42 passes for 511 yards the next three seasons combined. The Jets signed him to a one-year, $4 million contract in free agency in 2022; after five games, he was sent back to Kansas City.

While Hardman has seen a diminished role on offense and only modest action as a kickoff returner the last five years with no return longer than 32 yards, he has been a reliable punt returner, with a career average of 9.2 yards per return with a touchdown in 2020.

“The punt returner, I’ve said this a lot of times, the punt returner is – besides the quarterback – probably the hardest thing to do, in my opinion, on the football field,” Chiefs special teams coordinator Dave Toub said last season. “It’s hard. You have guys coming down on you, you have to make a lot of quick decisions, you have to catch the ball. It’s tough. I have a lot of trust in him.”

Hardman, of course, wasn’t signed by general manager Brian Gutekunst to be the team’s No. 1 receiver. However, if he can take the pressure off Nixon to return kicks and provide some easy yards on offense, this will be a smart addition.

While Hardman’s got great long speed, he wasn’t even targeted on a deep pass last season. However, his speed is a weapon, and LaFleur will figure out how to maximize his talent. Hardman’s 8.3 yards after the catch per catch as a receiver and 7.3-yard average as a runner will present some interesting opportunities for an offense that lacks a premier receiver and might have to rely on creativity to move the ball with consistency.

Putting all the numbers aside, the Chiefs had a true fondness for Hardman that bodes well for his impact on the team.

“It brought me to tears seeing that he was the man who brought us this ring,” tight end Travis Kelce said after Hardman’s Super Bowl-winning touchdown. “Sometimes the media can be pretty harsh on a guy.

“Mecole is one of my favorite teammates ever, just because he keeps showing up. He keeps trying to find ways to win. When everyone counted him out, even the Jets counted him out, we were so excited when he got back in the building because he's the kind of guy that brings everybody together. He's got that kind of personality.”

The Chiefs re-signed Hardman last offseason to a one-year deal worth the league-minimum $1.125 million. Presumably, Hardman will be in the same ballpark with this contract; the league-minimum for a seventh-year player is $1.255 million.

At age 27 and with value as a rusher, receiver and returner, this is a smart signing that’s all upside.

Grade: A.