Kansas City Chiefs Pro Bowler Mecole Hardman will officially head to the IR for a knee injury which ends his season. According to a Bleacher Report, the Chiefs are taking a huge blow to their passing game in time for the championship matchup against the Bills. Originally selected in the second round of the 2019 NFL Draft, the former three-time Super Bowl champion will become a free agent after coming back to the team on a one-year deal. Hardman will be free to sign wherever he wants and since the Chiefs may be prioritizing re-signing Marquise Brown and DeAndre Hopkins, the veteran will likely be in a new uniform.
It might become difficult for a Hardman to have a market, but regardless, he should have some interest from teams as a journeyman weapon. After finishing the 2024 campaign, recording 12 catches for 90 yards while adding 62 rushing yards, it makes sense the Chiefs won’t retain him when their season is over. Before that, he spent some time with the New York Jets in the 2023 season before trading him back which turned out to be a blessing for Patrick Mahomes’ aerial attack. He was a reason why the Chiefs captured another Super Bowl in a walk-off touchdown catch over the 49ers but unfortunately, everything must come to an end.
The outlook of the Kansas City salary cap situation does not look to be in their favor so it’s easy to cut ties. With Hardman on the sidelines, he might join another team on a one-year deal to revive his career with Ravens, Panthers.
Mecole Hardman Heading to IR with Knee Injury Could Signal Ravens, Panthers Free Agent Signing
More Help for Lamar Jackson
The Baltimore Ravens super dream team came to an end in a heartbreaking divisional round loss. The team was without their main option, Zay Flowers so they had to embrace relying on Rashod Bateman and Nelson Agholor to help Lamar Jackson thrive the best he could in the passing game. It didn’t work out in the end as tight ends Isaiah Likely and Mark Andrews did what they could as a security blanket to get those easy yardages to move the chains. However, the team took a chance on trading for Diontae Johnson to relieve the pressure for Flowers and Bateman midseason but the experiment didn’t work out.
Perhaps, Hardman wouldn’t need to have an integral role in this offense since he’ll likely emerge as the fourth man behind Agholor catching passes in some moments to help Jackson find another target. The veteran has plenty of experience to help the Ravens to a potential Super Bowl after winning three of those, he might be the last piece to what the team’s passing game is missing.
Rebuilding Bryce Young
The Carolina Panthers should put quarterback Bryce Young in the best position to win ball games since they have faith in him after his latest benching. Bridge signal-caller Andy Dalton probably won’t come back so this means Young getting benched again might not happen anytime soon. However, receivers like Xavier Legette and Jalen Coker are both thriving but what this passing offense needs is experience. The Diontae Johnson experiment didn’t work out here in Carolina as well so they might play big in finding their next superstar receiver.
The Panthers will still need some type of consistent wideout to catch those balls from Young as much as possible and Hardman could fill that role. The veteran might not be the same anymore but he could easily carve out a role with a team that’s rebuilding their offense again.
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