The Jets are trading speedy-but-little-used wide receiver Mecole Hardman back to the Kansas City Chiefs, with whom he spent his first four NFL seasons, sources confirmed to the Daily News.
Kansas City will send a 2025 sixth-round pick to the Jets, who are also giving up a 2025 seventh-round pick, ESPN first reported.
Hardman joined the Jets on a one-year, $4 million contract over the offseason but failed to carve out much of a role. He only recorded one catch for six yards in 28 offensive snaps.
The 25-year-old, who ran a 4.33-second 40-yard dash before the 2019 NFL Draft, seemed poised to add a speed element to a new-look Jets offense, but he found himself behind Garrett Wilson, Allen Lazard, Randall Cobb and undrafted rookie Xavier Gipson on the wide receiver depth chart.
“I just want to play and be on the field,” Hardman said last week. “Whether it’s here or somewhere else, I don’t make that call. Whatever happens, happens. I’m just going to work every day and whenever I get a chance, I’m going to prove it.”
Hardman isn’t the only offseason acquisition that’s yet to work out for the Jets. Four-time MVP quarterback Aaron Rodgers, 39, suffered an Achilles tear on the fourth offensive snap of Week 1, while running back Dalvin Cook, 28, has only rushed for 109 yards and is averaging 2.8 yards per carry.
Cook, whose one-year deal is worth up to $8.6 million, received a season-low four touches in Sunday’s win over the Eagles and is firmly behind Breece Hall in the running back pecking order.
The 33-year-old Cobb, a veteran presence and longtime Packers teammate of Rodgers, has three catches for 20 yards.
Wednesday’s trade reunites Hardman with a Chiefs team that drafted him in the second round out of Georgia in 2019. Hardman recorded 151 catches, 2,088 receiving yards and 16 touchdowns during his first four seasons with Kansas City.
He adds another weapon to a Chiefs offense that ranks ninth in the NFL at 24.5 points per game, down from its league-leading 29.2 points per game last year.
None of the Chiefs wide receivers averaged even 50 receiving yards per game through six weeks, with rookie Rashee Rice leading a pedestrian group with 245 yards and two touchdowns. Tight end Travis Kelce remains quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ favorite target with 346 yards and three touchdown receptions.
This is the second year in a row the Chiefs made a midseason trade with a New York team for a wide receiver. The Giants sent Kadarius Toney to the Chiefs last season for draft picks they ended up turning into tight end Darren Waller and rookie cornerback Tre Hawkins III.
With Antwan Staley
