During the NFL’s free agency period, the New York Jets have preferred a quality over quantity approach.
One of the team’s top targets ended up being wide receiver, Mecole Hardman. Gang Green signed him to a one-year deal for $4.5 million but it has a maximum value of $6.5 million.
While several members of the Jets seemed pretty excited about the move, not everyone was a fan.
Alex Ballentine of Bleacher Report featured the former Kansas City Chiefs standout as his No. 1 free agent that “signed with the wrong team.”
Mecole Hardman Might Not Stand out in New York
Ballentine believes it’ll be hard for the former Chiefs playmaker to separate himself in a “crowded” wide receiver room with the Jets.
Gang Green added veteran wideout Allen Lazard on a four-year deal for $44 million earlier in free agency. The Jets invested the No. 10 overall pick in the first round of last year’s draft in Garrett Wilson.
Ballentine also pointed out other guys on the roster that’ll command the ball like tight end Tyler Conklin “who drew 87 targets last year” and Breece Hall as a “strong pass-catching running back.”
Hardman chose to bet on himself and Ballentine doesn’t believe that it’ll pay off in the end.
Another surprising reason he believes Hardman made the wrong choice is the eventual QB1 at 1 Jets Drive.
Aaron Rodgers still isn’t officially a member of the green and white yet, but the full expectation is that he will be the Week 1 starter.
Ballentine says even if he is, Rodgers showed “signs of decline last season” and that could be a preview of what is to come.
Ultimately Ballentine said the dynamic youngster is going to be the “third or fourth option” on a Jets offense that features a quarterback “who might be losing his touch.”
Some of the Reasoning in This Argument Seems Spotty
Is there a lot of talent on the Jets’ offense? Without question and it makes sense that could be viewed as a potential negative.
However, if you view this from the other side of the table it is actually a positive. The more weapons an offense has, the less amount of attention will be focused on stopping Hardman.
That means the talented 25-year-old should have plenty of favorable one-on-one matchups to take advantage of during the upcoming 2023 season.
The analytics about Rodgers regressing last season seems completely overblown.
A-Rod is a four-time NFL MVP and is widely considered one of the best quarterbacks of all time. Because of that, he has set a ridiculously high standard for what fans can expect from him on a year-to-year basis.
In his “down year” in 2022, Rodgers had more than twice the amount of touchdowns (26) versus interceptions (12).
The former California product did have the least amount of passing yards that he has ever had in a single season in which he played at least 10 games. However, it’s also important to note those 3,695 passing yards would be the fifth most all-time by a Jets quarterback in a singular campaign.
When you look at the numbers, 2022 appears to be more so an outlier compared to the rest of his career versus a sign of things to come.
You can’t blame Hardman for coming to the biggest market in the NFL and possibly playing with another future hall-of-fame quarterback.
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New Jets Free Agent Called Out: ‘Signed With the Wrong Team’