On the day of the NFL trade deadline, the New York Jets pulled off the unthinkable.
Just eight games after signing him to a four-year, $120 million extension, New York traded star cornerback Sauce Gardner to the Indianapolis Colts in a blockbuster move that stunned the league.
The shock wasn’t limited to fans. Speaking with ESPN’s Rich Cimini, Gardner’s agent and brother, Allante Gardner, said the two-time All-Pro was “stunned” by the deal.
“Sauce Gardner was stunned by the trade, per his brother and agent Allante Gardner, who told me he learned of the deal around 12:15 in a call from the Jets,” Cimini wrote in a post on X. “They had no inkling before that. Sauce has no negative feelings toward the Jets; he understands it’s a business. Sauce did get a call from Aaron Glenn.”
In exchange for Gardner, New York acquired a 2026 first-round pick, alongside a 2027 first-round selection and 23-year-old wide receiver Adonai Mitchell.
A 2022 first-round pick out of Cincinnati, Gardner earned first-team All-Pro honors in each of his first two NFL seasons. His dominance convinced the Jets’ new leadership, general manager Darren Mougey and head coach Aaron Glenn, to reward him with a lucrative four-year extension.
The deal made Gardner the league’s second-highest cornerback in guaranteed money, trailing only Houston’s Derek Stingley Jr., who received $89 million in guarantees as part of a three-year, $90 million contract signed earlier this offseason.
With Gardner and Quinnen Williams both dealt before the deadline, the Jets have made their intentions clear: this is a complete rebuild.
The future now hinges on how Darren Mougey uses the influx of draft capital, selections that will ultimately define his legacy as general manager.
