The Green Bay Packers have big goals. They're in the tough NFC North, but led by quarterback Jordan Love and a lot of talent around him, they believe they can reach great heights.
Part of the way to help a contending team get over the hump is to add players who have been there and done that.
The Packers did just that this offseason when they signed free agent Mecole Hardman. The veteran wide receiver and return man has Super Bowl pedigree from his days with the Kansas City Chiefs.
But now, Hardman is in a tough spot. He had a punt return fumble already in the preseason, and the wide receiver depth chart is very crowded.
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Bleacher Report's Gary Davenport goes so far as to suggest Hardman should be cut.
"Mecole Hardman has spent most of his professional career with the Kansas City Chiefs, after being drafted in Round 2 in 2019," Davenport writes. "He has 28 starts, 178 receptions, 16 touchdowns and three Super Bowl rings. Based on his performance in Green Bay's preseason opener, though, Hardman could start the 2025 season looking for work... But Hardman has never come especially close to living up to his draft slot. And on a Packers team loaded with young talent at wide receiver, he has no margin to make the sort of errors he made in his Green Bay debut."
When healthy, Green Bay probably has at least six receivers ahead of Hardman (Romeo Doubs, Christian Watson, Jayden Reed, Dontayvion Wicks, Matthew Golden, Savion Williams) and that's not counting Malik Heath.
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The only thing working in Hardman's favor right now is that the Packers' receiving corps is very much not healthy. Hardman may stick on the team by default in the early going.
Eventually, though, a squeeze is coming at the WR spot.
If Hardman doesn't make a good impression in the meantime, he could end up out of luck.
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