Mecole Hardman a free-agent miss, but Xavier Gipson helps ease pain

There’s no question that the signing of wide receiver Mecole Hardman wound up being a major miss in free agency for the New York Jets.

The team signed Hardman to a one-year deal worth $4 million with up to $2 million in incentives. After falling down the depth chart and having almost zero role on the team anymore, including being inactive in Week 5, the Jets traded Hardman to the Kansas City Chiefs after just six games.

He finished his short Jets career with one catch for six yards. He goes back to the team he spent his first four seasons with.

Fortunately, the embarrassment blow of missing on Hardman is softened thanks to the fast rise of undrafted free agent Xavier Gipson.

Gipson won the punt and kick returning roles for the Jets in training camp, allowing him to help on special teams, something Hardman was not able to do.

He cemented his position there with his game-winning punt-return touchdown in overtime to knock off the Buffalo Bills in Week 1 after losing quarterback Aaron Rodgers just four snaps into his Jets debut.

Gipson has also seen a couple of snaps on offense as well. He’s not much a factor on offense as of yet, but he can grow into one, even if just a specialized role. He can run some of the gadget plays the Jets tried doing with Braxton Berrios last season.

Gipson is now arguably the No. 4 wide receiver behind Garrett Wilson, Allen Lazard and Randall Cobb. Irv Charles has moved up thanks to his special-teams play while Jason Brownlee, the other rookie free agent wide receiver for the Jets, has been a weekly inactive.

The Jets incur a $500,000 dead money hit this year plus a $2 million dead money hit next year as a result of trading Hardman. Over the Cap currently projects the Jets to have about $7.5 million in salary cap space this year and $32 million next year. Any remaining cap space this year can be carried over into next year.

The Jets missed on Hardman this year. Misses happen all the time. It’s a bit magnified following the expectations of this season. Xavier Gipson, and his Week 1 heroics, have helped ease that pain.