Acme Packing Company
The Green Bay Packers signed receiver/returner Mecole Hardman this offseason, as the team apparently planned on phasing All-Pro returner Keisean Nixon off of special teams. So far this year, Nixon hasn’t returned even 1 of the 30 kick returns that the Packers have taken out in 2025, and Nixon has only returned 3 of the team’s 21 punt returns.
On punt returns, specifically, Green Bay needed a starter at the position going into the offseason. So far, the punt return duties have been split between Romeo Doubs (10), Matthew Golden (6), Nixon (3) and Jayden Reed (2) this season. Meanwhile, rookie receiver Savion Williams has been the team’s primary kick returner since Week 1.
Hardman didn’t make the Packers’ initial 53-man roster, though, which featured six other receivers and Christian Watson on the PUP list. Ultimately, that last roster spot at receiver came down to Malik Heath, who, for apparent disciplinary reasons, isn’t traveling with Green Bay this week, and Hardman. The Packers went with Heath and ended up signing Hardman to their practice squad the day after cutdowns.
Hardman didn’t stick around long, though, as he was released on September 23rd. He resurfaced with the Buffalo Bills on Monday, signing with their practice squad. On Saturday, the Bills promoted Hardman off their practice squad to their 53-man roster.
So if you want to track a could-have-been situation, keep an eye on some Bills games, particularly when the team is returning the ball. In Hardman’s NFL career, he has returned 89 punts for 819 yards and a touchdown, along with 45 returns for 1,073 yards and a touchdown. As a rookie in 2019, he earned Pro Bowl and second-team All-Pro honors for his performance as a returner.
So far this year, the Bills have used four kick returners (Brandon Codrington, Curtis Samuel, Ty Johnson and Ray Davis) and three punt returners (Codrington, Khalil Shakir and Keon Coleman). All of those players remain on Buffalo’s 53-man roster, other than Codrington, who was released today. For what it’s worth, Hardman’s addition to the team makes him the seventh receiver on the Bills’ active roster. The team also elevated receiver Gabe Davis from the practice squad to the gameday roster this week.
Here’s an interesting dynamic about Hardman’s status: He’s now waiver eligible. When he was on Buffalo’s practice squad, to poach him, teams would have needed to guarantee him three weeks on their 53-man roster to make the transaction. If a player is claimed off waivers, though, there is no minimum time that a player has to be on the roster for. Since we’re past the trade deadline, all players, including vested veterans like Hardman, are now subject to waivers.
This weird dynamic, where it’s actually more advantageous to pluck a player off of waivers than as a practice squad poach, has already been a factor for the Packers once this year. The Tennessee Titans snatched offensive lineman Brant Banks, who was previously on Green Bay’s practice squad, when he was brought...
