According to Ian Rapoport, the Colts are trading for Jets CB Sauce Gardner in an out-of-nowhere trade deadline blockbuster deal.
Adam Schefter reports the Colts are trading two first-round picks for Gardner. Brian Costello confirms the picks are the next two Colts’ first-rounders.
There had been some buzz about the Colts looking to add at cornerback but zero sense that Gardner was available for trade, even though plenty of other Jets players were in rumors.
The Jets just signed him to a huge contract extension this past offseason and he’s been one of the best corners in football since entering the league.
However, the one-win start to the Jets’ season, the first under new HC Aaron Glenn and GM Darren Mougey, has eventually prompted some re-evaluations.
Per Over The Cap, trading Gardner leaves the Jets with $11 million in dead money in 2026 and $8.1 million in 2025, each about a million and change less than his previously scheduled cap hits.
Gardner is under contract for five more seasons, with guarantees that roll (become guaranteed a year before they’re due) through the 2028 season. Indianapolis will owe him around $130 million for the next five years, an average of $26 million a year.
Gardner, 25, was a three-year starter at Cincinnati. He was a Consensus All-American and AAC Defensive Player of the Year in 2021. The Jets used the No. 4 overall pick on him in the 2022 draft.
He signed a four-year, $33,450,799 contract that includes a $21,507,854 signing bonus. There was also a fifth-year option for the team to pick up in 2025.
New York re-signed him to a record four-year, $120.4 million extension in July.
In 2025, Gardner has appeared in seven games for the Jets and recorded 20 tackles and no interceptions.
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