Pro Bowl special teams player Justin Hardee certainly has a nice ring to it. Hardee is enjoying his first trip to the Pro Bowl in Las Vegas along with his Jets teammates Sauce Gardner, Quinnen Williams and C.J. Mosley.
While Hardee is soaking in every second of the Pro Bowl Games this week, he has a higher goal for the team for next season, which just so happens to also involve being in Las Vegas.
With Super Bowl LVII between the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs just days away, the other 30 teams are beginning their road to Super Bowl LVIII. The location for that game? Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. Hardee has his sights set on returning to Sin City next February.
“Hopefully this time next year, we’ll be getting ready back here, actually,” Hardee told SNY’s Jeane Coakley while discussing the team and the rookie class and upcoming goals.
Justin Hardee with @JeaneCoakley on his experience at the Pro Bowl, reflections on this past season & looking forward to the Jets' rookie class' sophomore seasons next year pic.twitter.com/yW4xX1zOAX
— Jets Videos (@snyjets) February 4, 2023
The Jets are entering a huge offseason where they are expected to go after a veteran quarterback such as Aaron Rodgers or Derek Carr and are entering what could be a make-or-break season for the pairing of head coach Robert Saleh and general manager Joe Douglas. Anything short of a playoff appearance next season could spell the end of the current regime.
The Jets have +2500 odds to win the Super Bowl next season, though a huge splash at the quarterback position and a strong offseason should boost those numbers. The road to the Super Bowl is going to be extremely tough for any AFC team going forward with all the strong quarterback play already intact. Just look at the AFC Divisional Playoffs. Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, Joe Burrow and Trevor Lawrence were the four quarterbacks.
The Jets won’t be viewed as Super Bowl favorites anytime soon. But an infusion of talent should make them at least playoff contenders and then anything can happen from there.
Hardee’s strong play should give him a very good chance to be visiting Las Vegas in February 2024 in what would be his second trip to Vegas of the season as the Jets will play on the road against the Raiders during the 2023 regular season. It’s just a matter of whether that will be for the Pro Bowl or the Super Bowl.