The Kansas City Chiefs weren't overly impressive in their first preseason game, falling short against the Arizona Cardinals by a final score of 20-17. Aside from an impressive effort by the first unit, there were some obvious failures.
Kansas City wasn't the only team who played on Saturday night, and there were numerous storylines worth discussing based on the results. Even some former Chiefs completely melted down.
Unfortunately for one three-time Super Bowl champion, he almost certainly sealed his exit from his current organization with a horrific effort on Saturday.
Jets special teams is out here recovering fumbles 👀
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Former Chiefs WR Mecole Hardman Suffers Disastrous 1st Preseason Game
Ex-Chiefs wideout Mecole Hardman, who caught a decisive game-winning score in the Super Bowl against the San Francisco 49ers, quite literally couldn't have been worse in his preseason debut with the Green Bay packers.
Hardman foolishly fielded a punt at the 5-yard line, an error he repeatedly made with Kansas City. He then proceeded to muff a bounced punt for no apparent reason, gifting the Jets 10 points between the two plays. Considering he's only on a one-year deal and facing an uphill battle to make the roster, it was about as bad of an effort as one could imagine.
Originally a second-round pick in the 2019 NFL Draft, Hardman is a beloved teammate and excellent locker-room presence. From a purely on-field perspective, however, he's been below average for years. Chiefs fans were furious with his foolish return decisions and terrible performance in the Buffalo Bills and Baltimore Ravens playoff games, suggesting a clear reason why Kansas City felt comfortable moving on from him twice.
At this stage, Hardman is a mediocre NFL player at best. Just like he came back to the Chiefs in 2024, perhaps that'll happen in 2025. It's impossible to argue that he's actually a valuable receiver, so any benefit from rostering him comes from special teams.
If you're going to fumble and take a punt within the five, are you providing any value? Packers head coach Matt LaFleur likely doesn't think so, and guys like Matthew Golden and Bo Melton offer as much return value as Hardman does.
Despite his strong pedigree, Hardman might be addressing his football mortality. This isn't a game-changing player. In fact, he might actively be a negative. Here's hoping he can turn things around, but Hardman was a mess and should expect to be cut within the next couple of weeks.