Mecole Hardman’s Fourth Season Leaves More Questions Than Answers

The final year of Hardman's rookie deal did everything but instill confidence in his future with the Chiefs.

After the Kansas City Chiefs traded superstar wide receiver Tyreek Hill to the Miami Dolphins during the offseason, the wideout group was in a transition period.

Veterans Demarcus Robinson and Byron Pringle were also out of the picture, with the likes of JuJu Smith-Schuster, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Justin Watson and rookie Skyy Moore filling out the depth chart in their places. For Mecole Hardman, who was suddenly the pass-catcher in the room with the most experience compared to his newly-acquired peers, the bar was set high for a breakout in year No. 4.

That fourth season, a rollercoaster of a ride that featured everything but that breakout, came to a screeching halt when Kansas City placed Hardman on the injured reserve list on Monday. 

After posting career-highs in targets (83), receptions (59), yards (693) and first downs (33) in 2021, Hardman saw those numbers plummet in 2022-23. He managed to play in just eight games, by far the least of his career, hauling in 25 passes for 297 yards and four receiving touchdowns. He was beginning to come on strong with five total touchdowns in a three-game span, though, before suffering an abdominal injury that held him out of action from Week 9 until the AFC Championship Game.

Over time, Hardman's abdominal injury shifted to a pelvis designation. He aggravated the ailment in practice after being designated to return from IR in late December, delaying his return until the conference title game. The 2019 second-round pick was able to play through the pain against the Cincinnati Bengals, but he played just 15 offensive snaps before re-aggravating his injury and subsequently not being able to return. Head coach Andy Reid said last week that he doubted Hardman would be able to play in the Super Bowl, thus leading to the team ending his fourth campaign abruptly.

Hardman's season, as disappointing as it was, leaves more questions than answers. The Chiefs will be tasked with sorting through that traffic once Super Bowl LVII has been played.

Because he wasn't a first-round pick, Hardman didn't have a fifth-year option on his rookie contract that could've been picked up. Kansas City also failed to lock him up with a long-term contract extension and he didn't perform even remotely well enough to get slapped with the franchise tag, so the 24-year-old is set to test the free agent waters this offseason. The word on his future with the Chiefs has been nearly silent, which means he very well could (and should) entertain offers from other teams.

Assessing Hardman's value is a difficult thing to do. From the Chiefs' perspective, he failed to live up to the hype thrust upon him before the season and he never truly displayed the growth many anticipated from him as a receiver. Hardman's ability to get clean releases or run a sufficient route tree consistently remains suspect at this point in time. In four years, he never quite got on the same page with quarterback Patrick Mahomes. As a result, Kansas City investing significant resources in someone who didn't show a great deal of progression compared to expectations may not be the wisest of moves. 

Additionally, the in-season trade pickup of Kadarius Toney adds another element to this equation. Toney, while injury-prone at this stage of his career, is objectively a more dynamic player than Hardman and can do a lot of the same things Hardman does in the Chiefs' offense. On top of that, Toney is better at tracking the ball down the field and making plays after the catch. He's a better pure receiver while also still being dangerous in a "gadget" role. Toney is under contract for two more seasons, so he isn't going anywhere. That complicates things for Hardman even more. 

With that said, Hardman had brief stints that saw him thrive in that gadget role within Reid's offense as well. The aforementioned three-game stretch this season is an example of that, and who knows what could've happened had he stayed healthy. Having Toney and Hardman in the fold would be a true luxury for the Chiefs and a true nightmare for opposing defenses in 2023 (and possibly beyond). Despite his shortcomings, Hardman is still a useful player. There's no denying that.

The Chiefs' task is to figure out what they want to do here. In a free agent class that is notably weak at the receiver spot, Hardman will be one of the more intriguing names on the market. All it takes is one opposing coach to think that they can "unlock" him, and Spotrac's $11 million annual calculated market value estimate would possibly push him out of Kansas City's price range. If Hardman is open to returning on a reasonable deal or discount relative to that rate, perhaps the team can work something out. After his rookie contract unfolded and ended this way, these questions aren't going anywhere until an answer is found one way or another. 2022-23 didn't exactly provide a ton of clarity.

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