NY Jets: Sauce Gardner finally receives DROY trophy

The New York Jets cornerback took to Twitter to show off his Defensive Rookie of the Year trophy

It’s been five months since New York Jets cornerback Sauce Gardner was named Defensive Rookie of the Year. Now, Gardner finally has the hardware that goes with it.

Posting on Twitter, the Jets’ star cornerback let the world know that he finally received his DROY trophy.

My baby finally here… Better late than never🤣🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/gIURgwZdsN

— SAUCE GARDNER (@iamSauceGardner) July 7, 2023

While Gardner had fun taking a collage with his trophy, that didn’t stop one Twitter user from questioning the attire worn by the 22-year-old cornerback. Gardner defended his fashion choice.

I cant be flickin up if ian got a cut mann😂 that’s law. I wasn’t outside for long tho lol

— SAUCE GARDNER (@iamSauceGardner) July 7, 2023

Joking aside, Gardner has proven that he’s more than just hype after being taken by the Jets with the fourth overall pick in the 2022 NFL draft. The University of Cincinnati product put up a historic rookie season.

Gardner led the NFL with 20 passes defended in 17 games en route to a first-team All-Pro appearance. Gardner is the first rookie cornerback since Ronnie Lott in 1981 to win the award. He also won the Pepsi Zero Sugar Rookie of the Week award three times.

While it will be hard to build off of such an incredible rookie season, Gardner isn’t taking things for granted.

“I got a lot of things to get better at,” Gardner said at the NFL Honors in Phoenix in February. “I want to be able to get more takeaways because I feel like it’ll help the team more. I want to continue to be an even better teammate, watching guys like D.J. [Reed], C.J. [Mosley], Quinnen [Williams]. I had those great examples in front of me and that’s who I want to be like next year.”