Mecole Hardman put on blast by Jets punter after admitting he begged for Chiefs trade

Mecole Hardman is fresh off a whirlwind season. Hardman started the year with Aaron Rodgers and the New York Jets, but was traded back to his former team midseason, as Chiefs general manager Brett Veach made upgrading the receiver position a priority at the deadline.

What looked like a natural fit for Hardman and the Jets wasn't so simple after all. Hardman felt he didn't get enough looks at wide receiver, and refused to take reps at punt returner when rookie Xavier Gipson went down withy an injury. Hardman readily admitted this in a recent interview.

Hardman felt special teams coordinator Brant Boyer misled him about the punt-returning job in training camp. Prior to his rematch against the Chiefs, Hardman said he didn't have enough time to prepare to replace Gipson, and had an injury of his own with a hyperextended pinky.

The Super Bowl winner also suggested he manufactured his trade back to the Chiefs.

"I was so checked out, like, it was over with. I had already talked to (KC GM Brett) Veach and Pat (Mahomes), like, ‘Come get me.’"

Hardman didn't speak fondly of his time with the Jets at all.

"It’s the lies and the way they handled me. I didn’t like it at all," Hardman said. "You just got a new (offensive) coaching staff that came in and there’s no standard there. Everybody does what they want to do. Granted, the defense has more of a stabilized standard with the coaching staff on that side, so the defense has a standard. But the offense is just like, 'We’ll just figure it out. It’s Aaron’s show. Let Aaron do what Aaron does.' Then when Aaron goes down, it’s like we don’t know what to do."

Mecole Hardman, Thomas Morstead disagree about his time with Jets

While that's Hardman's perspective, it's fair to wonder if he's a little biased. Not every organization can be the Chiefs, and Hardman was given every opportunity to succeed as a prized free-agent pickup. Instead, he struggled in training camp and rightly didn't receive much playing time.

Thomas Morstead, veteran Jets punter, pointed this out.

Hardman responded to Morstead on social media, saying that he doesn't know the entire story.

Hardman is a free agent once again, and if he doesn't re-sign with the Chiefs, his time with the Jets -- specifically the tampering his hinted at prior to the trade deadline -- could make some teams think twice prior to signing him away from Kansas City.