Mecole Hardman didn’t contribute much to the New York Jets when he briefly played for them last season. But he may be indirectly giving them a bonus months after they traded him to the Kansas City Chiefs.

There’s a good chance the Jets will pursue tampering charges against the Chiefs after Hardman said in an interview that he texted Patrick Mahomes and Kansas City GM Brett Veach to “come get me” when the wide receiver still played with New York.

The Jets ultimately traded Hardman to the Chiefs before Week 7. Hardman had played his first four NFL seasons with the Chiefs before he signed with the Jets last March.

Jets could pursue tampering charges against Chiefs after Mecole Hardman's comments

“Look, I’ll just say those are comments that definitely resonated with us,” Jets general manager Joe Douglas said at the NFL Scouting Combine on Wednesday.

If there indeed was tampering on the Chiefs part, the NFL could compensate the Jets with an extra draft pick and/or fine Kansas City.

Hardman ripped into the Jets during an appearance this week on the Pivot Podcast. He was clearly still bitter about how little the Jets used him (23 snaps in four games; one catch for six yards) after he signed a one-year, $4 million contract.

Jets free agent punter Thomas Morstead clapped back at Hardman’s comments in a social media post Wednesday that said, in part, “Be careful getting information from disgruntled former employees.”

For his part, Douglas tried to take the high road.

“In this situation, Xavier Gipson came on for us this year and did an outstanding job for us (replacing Hardman at wide receiver and in the return game),” Douglas explained. “Our process of adding Mecole, he was excited to be here, and it just didn’t work out. A lot of that has to do with Xavier.”

Hardman did get the last laugh, though. He went on to win his third championship with the Chiefs and caught the winning touchdown in overtime in Super Bowl LVIII.