NY Jets cornerbacks of past and present found themselves in a Twitter back-and-forth with Asante Samuel

New York Jets cornerback Sauce Gardner may only be entering his second year in the NFL, but he already has a long list of detractors. Count former New England Patriots DB Asante Samuel as one of them.

ESPN released its ranking of the best cornerbacks in the NFL (based on a survey of players, coaches, and executives), and the DROY found himself second on the list behind Patrick Surtain of the Denver Broncos. Samuel, however, didn’t even think Gardner deserved the No. 2 ranking – alluding that the New York media was responsible for the hype surrounding the second-year player.

Samuel also stated that Seahawks rookie Tariq Woolen had a better rookie season than Gardner, claiming fans are “highly influenced by the media” rather than facts.

Samuel continued his rant in the common section. Within his rant, he added former Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis (who will be inducted into the NFL’s Hall of Fame this year), claiming he was also a benefactor of the NY media.

Revis and Samuel have had issues in the past, with the latter calling Revis “crazy” after he made a comment about Richard Sherman’s blown coverage in the NFC Championship game in 2020.

Revis caught wind of the tweet and responded by sharing a story in which he claims Rex Ryan showed Jets players a highlight film of Samuel getting beaten by a double move on every route.

Samuel tried to defend himself but Revis quickly fired back.

While Revis didn’t mince his words when addressing the situation, Gardner proved to take a different approach.

The altercation also drew the attention of another member of the Jets, DE John Franklin-Myers.

But the back-and-forth didn’t stop there. Samuel then issued a “challenge” to the Jets cornerback – to turn more pass deflections into interceptions. That challenge ended up getting a scorching response from Gardner. The second-year player let it be known that he’s on a mission this season.

In the final exchange, Gardner asked Samuel who he thought was the best cornerback in the NFL. Samuel answered with Surtain.

Gardner argues that Samuel’s choice of Surtain contradicts some of his previous tweets that seemed to indicate he thinks interceptions are the most important stat for cornerbacks. Surtain had two interceptions last season, equaling Gardner’s total.

This is likely far from the last online altercation Jets players will have with Samuel. It’s also another example of the noise Sauce will have to face as he continues to play at an elite level.