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.” _____________________________________________________________________________
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 he was elevated to the 53-man roster for the Bills’ 23-20 win over the Cleveland Browns. He returned one punt for four yards on two special teams snaps in the game. Hardman Jr.‘s final action came in Buffalo’s 33-30 overtime playoff loss to the Denver Broncos. He played on 18 offense snaps and saw two targets: a four-yard touchdown catch to open the scoring for the Bills and a bomb that fell incomplete on the penultimate offensive play of the season. He also had one kickoff return for 22 yards while playing nine special teams snaps in the game.
Positional outlook: Hardman Jr. is one of 14 receivers on the current roster. Khalil Shakir, Keon Coleman, Skyler Bell, DJ Moore, Joshua Palmer, Trent Sherfield Sr., Jalen Virgil, Tyrell Shavers, Ja’Mori Maclin, Mac Dalena, Max Tomczak, Deven Thompkins, and Stephen Gosnell are the others.
2026 Offseason: Hardman Jr. is healthy and he participated in offseason workouts.
2026 Season outlook: The Bills’ wide receiver group is open towards the back end of the room. The only players I would consider locks to be on the roster Week One are Shakir, Moore, and Bell. The Bills could find trade partners for Coleman and Palmer, and while I find it far more likely that they are on the team, it’s certainly possible that Buffalo trades one or both of them this summer. If we assume that Coleman and Palmer are also on the roster, though, that likely gives us nine players fighting for one open spot. What that player can do on offense will obviously be a big part of the reason he makes the team, but it will likely be contributions on special teams that allow the proverbial cream to rise to the top.
If Hardman Jr. wants to pull a Macho Man and make everyone realize that he is, in fact, the cream of the crop, he’ll have to offer consistency in the return game, especially as a punt returner. With Ray Davis emerging as an All-Pro kickoff returner last year, the Bills have far less need there than they did last season. Hardman Jr. can make the team by consistently fielding punts and putting Buffalo’s offense in a position to succeed. That seems like a fairly low bar to clear, but the Bills averaged just 6.5 yards per punt return as a team last year. Only the Packers, Las Vegas Raiders, and Dallas Cowboys averaged less. Quarterback Josh Allen might be Superman, but it wouldn’t kill the Bills to give him some advantageous field position via something mundane like a quality punt return every now and then.
Hardman Jr. is likely one of a trio of veterans, with the others being Trent Sherfield Sr. and Jalen Virgil, whose special teams ability and veteran savvy give them the inside track for the final receiver spot on Buffalo’s roster. Hardman Jr. might not be the gunner on teams that the other two are, but he offers dynamic play-making ability that neither Sherfield Sr. nor Virgil can. What Hardman Jr. does with his chances this summer could go a long way towards determining whether he makes the team or is searching for work this fall.
