Jets wide receiver Mecole Hardman just wants to play. He just wants to be on the field. That’s what he told reporters Wednesday.
Hardman has been used very sparingly this season — 22 total snaps — and not at all since Week 4 as he was inactive for the Broncos game last week. He has just one catch this season for six yards and that came in Week 2 against Dallas when most of his playing time was in garbage time.
He may be inactive again this week now that Irv Charles has been signed to the 53-man roster. Hardman believes it’s clear the Jets prefer other players on the roster at this point.
Mecole Hardman said he just wants to play, whether it’s with the #Jets or someone else. He said it’s clear they prefer other players over him right now.
Some of his comments: pic.twitter.com/gpY9H1efTQ
— Zack Rosenblatt (@ZackBlatt) October 11, 2023
So now the question becomes will Hardman still play for the Jets or will it be somewhere else? It was reported earlier in the week by ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler that the Jets were beginning to look at trade possibilities for Hardman. Note that Hardman has not yet asked for a trade.
If the Jets do trade Hardman, they would save about $1.8 million in salary cap space while incurring $500,000 in dead money this year and $2 million next year. The Jets signed Hardman to a one-year deal worth $4 million with up to about $2 million in incentives. The Jets also added four void years for salary cap purposes.
While Hardman hasn’t asked for a trade yet, the Jets are now dealing with a disgruntled wide receiver for the second year in a row after a few weeks of the season. Last year, it was Elijah Moore and that followed the Denzel Mims story from training camp.
Moore was finally traded earlier this offseason to the Browns while Mims was traded to the Lions during camp and has since moved on and recently joined the Steelers’ practice squad. Time will tell how the Jets handle Hardman this year.
