Acme Packing Company
Hardman will have to earn his roster spot during training camp
Spotrac has the details on the one-year contract that former Kansas City Chiefs receiver Mecole Hardman signed with the Green Bay Packers this offseason. According to their website, Hardman will earn a salary of $1,170,000 this year, the league minimum for a player with Hardman’s experience in the NFL.
Beyond just his base salary, Hardman signed a $150,000 signing bonus, equal to what some high-end undrafted free agents will receive late next month, $130,000 in per-game roster bonuses — which comes out to around $8,000 per game that he plays in — and $50,000 in offseason workout bonuses. In total, Hardman is set to make $1.5 million total if he hits every single bonus in his contract.
The only guarantees in Hardman’s contract come in the form of his signing bonus. All of the salary is non-guaranteed, at least until Week 1. Because Hardman is a vested veteran, his salary would fully guarantee if he makes Green Bay’s roster the first week of the season.
Because the roster bonuses are not fully considered likely to be earned based on Hardman only playing 12 games for the Chiefs last year, his cap hit in 2025 has a hold number of $1.46 million instead of $1.5 million. Instead of the full $130,000 of pre-game roster bonuses counting against the cap, only 12 17ths (for the 12 games he played over 17 seasons last year) of that figure — $91,765 — is held against the Packers’ cap until he passes the 12-games-played threshold.
So the Packers certainly didn't promise Hardman a roster spot in 2025 with this contract. As we assumed at the time, Hardman will likely compete with Bo Melton for a backup receiver role, giving Green Bay some upside on a speedy receiver, while also being in the mix as the team’s starting punt returner.
