Buffalo Rumblings
Last season, the Buffalo Bills receiving corps was a mess. Look no further than the final game’s box score for a microcosm of the season. Everyone focuses on the maddening interception call on a pass intended for Brandin Cooks on the season’s final play, but if you look at the play-by-play notes, you’ll see that the play before was also a long pass, one that fell incomplete, and it also was thrown to a receiver who wasn’t with the team until midseason.
That Buffalo’s receiver group was so bad last season that quarterback Josh Allen’s final two passes went to receivers whom he didn’t really meet until after the trading deadline should tell us just how dire the situation really was. One of those players is still a free agent, though he has expressed a desire to return to Buffalo. The other is the subject of today’s edition of “91 players in 91 days.”
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Name: Mecole Hardman Jr.
Number: 1
Position: WR
Height/Weight: 5’10” 187 lbs.
Age: 28 (29 on 3/12/2027)
Experience/Draft: 8; selected by the Kansas City Chiefs in the second round (No. 56 overall) of the 2019 NFL Draft
College: Georgia
Acquired: Signed with Buffalo’s practice squad on 11/11/2025
Financial situation (per Spotrac): Hardman Jr. signed a one-year reserve/futures contract with Buffalo on January 19. That contract is worth a total of $1.325 million. Thanks to the veteran’s salary benefit, his cap hit is just $1.1 million if he makes the 53-man roster. As a fully vested veteran, the entirety of Hardman Jr.‘s base salary—$1.3 million—becomes fully guaranteed if he makes the team Week One. Buffalo can release him before Week One without incurring a dead cap charge, however.
2025 Recap: Hardman Jr. spent the offseason with the Green Bay Packers, as he had signed a one-year deal with them in March. He caught three of eight targets for 30 yards in the preseason, adding one 14-yard rush to his ledger, as well. He returned punts for the Packers in the preseason, as well, totaling four tries for 20 yards in those three exhibition games. He also lost one fumble. He did not make the team, however, as he was ultimately released on August 26 as part of Green Bay’s final cuts. The Packers signed him to the practice squad the following day, but he was not elevated to the active roster and was ultimately release on September 23. He remained a free agent until November, when Buffalo signed him to their practice squad amidst a rash of injuries and ineffective play in their receiver group. Hardman Jr. was elevated to the active roster for Buffalo’s game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and he had quite an extreme showing in the game. On the one hand, he returned his first kickoff return 61 yards. On the other hand, he muffed his only attempt at a punt return and suffered a calf injury that landed him on injured reserve. Hardman Jr. was on IR until December 20, when...
