Jets trade CB Sauce Gardner to Colts

The Jets will move on months after making Gardner the NFL’s highest-paid cornerback. Indianapolis will send two first-round picks to the Jets for Gardner, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports. Gardner already thanked the Jets (via X), as his through-2030 contract is moving to the Colts’ payroll. The picks are in 2026 and 2027.

Indianapolis was believed to be discussing a deal with another team, according to Fox’s Jay Glazer, who adds the Colts believed they had a separate deal done. That proved not to be the case. This unknown trade falling through has led to one of the biggest DB trades in NFL history going down. Glazer adds wide receiver Adonai Mitchell is going back to the Jets in this trade. We heard earlier today Mitchell, who had been a Colts backup, was drawing trade interest. The Jets are picking up a wideout with team control through 2027.

This is a wildly out-of-character move for Colts GM Chris Ballard, who has shied away from pricey outside acquisitions during his nine-year tenure. But this offseason brought a shift. Ballard made good on a promise to be more open to outside spending, paying up for Charvarius Ward and Camryn Bynum. Indianapolis, which already has Kenny Moore on a high-end slot CB contract, has now flooded its secondary with expensive contracts.

Other teams called the Jets on Gardner, according to veteran insider Jordan Schultz. It had appeared Gardner was untouchable, as the Jets had extended him in July. But the 1-7 team will aggressively lean into a rebuild, with the two first-rounders becoming lead assets in the Aaron Glenn-Darren Mougey regime’s effort to return the Jets to contention. Gardner is believed to have been stunned by this trade, according to ESPN’s Rich Cimini, who indicates the young corner learned of it shortly after noon ET today. He is certainly not the only one shocked by the Jets’ course change here.

Gardner and Garrett Wilson loomed as the top pieces to trade, if the Jets were serious about obtaining top draft capital, but lower-level moves — like deals involving Michael Carter II, Quincy Williams and Allen Lazard — were rumored. The team was believed to be listening on Quinnen Williams, but a trade is not viewed as likely. Now, however, the team certainly appears more open to blowing it up.

The Jets drafted Gardner fourth overall in 2022 and watched the Cincinnati alum become a central piece in a defensive turnaround. Robert Saleh‘s first defense ranked last; his second, with Gardner as a boundary stopper, rocketed to fourth. Other reasons existed for the ascent, but Gardner represented the biggest variable. Gardner soared to first-team All-Pro acclaim during his first two seasons, becoming one of the NFL’s premier cornerbacks. That did not result in Jets wins, but Joe Douglas‘ miss on Zach Wilson limited a well-built defense’s impact.

Gardner, 25, also did not match his 2022-23 form during the ’24 season. The physical corner, who has a reputation for being overly physical at points, graded as a top-three cornerback (per Pro Football Focus) in 2022 and ’23. PFF slotted him 31st in 2024 and ranks him 22nd this year. Glenn’s arrival brought a new system for Gardner to learn, and the new HC will retool at corner. The Jets extended Carter last year and let longtime No. 2 corner D.J. Reed walk in free agency. Now, Gardner is gone, fully dismantling Douglas’ CB trio.

Though, trading a slot corner in a Day 3 pick-swap exchange is obviously much different from dealing away a prime perimeter stopper for two first-round picks. The Jets, however, have benefited from a similar move in the fairly recent past. As Douglas’ 2020 negotiations with Jamal Adams were not starting well, the then-second-year GM flipped the All-Pro safety to the Seahawks for two first-rounders, a third and safety Bradley McDougald. Douglas ended up winning that trade, with Adams not coming especially close to justifying his then-safety-record Seattle extension. The Seahawks cut bait during that deal, and the Jets stocked their roster with the two firsts.

Prior to the Adams swap, the Jets also traded Darrelle Revis to the Buccaneers in 2013. The team fetched first- and fourth-rounders for the future Hall of Famer, whom the team had extended in 201o. Revis scored another contract with the Bucs, and the Jets drafted Sheldon Richardson with the first-rounder obtained. Gardner commanding more in a trade return than Revis is less indicative of talent and more tied to his age. Revis was going into an age-28 season at the time of the trade. Gardner will finish out his age-25 campaign with the Colts.

The Jets traded up for Alijah Vera-Tucker with the first of the Adams picks and acquired Wilson with the second first-rounder. Wilson joined Gardner in being extended this offseason. While Wilson was believed to be unhappy as the Aaron Rodgers period waned, Gardner was never connected to any trade rumors. Even as the rumors of Woody Johnson meddling piled up last year, Gardner expressed interest in being a long-term Jet. But the team’s new regime found an offer it couldn’t refuse.

Indianapolis is taking on a $30.1MM-per-year CB extension, doing so after giving Ward a three-year, $48MM deal in March. Both these moves deviate from Ballard’s M.O. at this position. For a while, Moore had been the Colts’ only high-priced CB — and the slot market is well south of the top perimeter deals — excepting Stephon Gilmore‘s one-and-done with the team. The team has changed its stripes and will take on a contract filled with option bonuses.

Despite Patrick Surtain‘s Defensive Player of the Year season, the CB market moved past his $24MM-per-year deal signed last September. Jaycee Horn, Derek Stingley and Gardner eclipsed the star Denver defender. Stingley’s $30MM-AAV accord set up Gardner to pass him, and the Jets OK’d it. For the team to move on after eight games is a shocking development, as a third Jets regime will bail on a standout DB early in his tenure. John Idzik traded Revis, while Douglas unloaded Adams. Mougey will make his mark on the Jets’ roster by shipping out Gardner in-season.

Gardner’s deal only carries a $13.75MM signing bonus, making it easier to trade. Rather than the Jets drowning in dead money by trading a player they just paid, the Colts will be on the hook for a $20MM option bonus in 2026, NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero notes. The Jets are only being hit with $19.75MM in dead cap (per Spotrac), which will be spread out through 2027 because of this trade occurring after June 1.

While it represents a risk to give up on a player so soon, the Jets’ current regime set up a potential trade with this contract structure. And it found a taker in the Colts, who certainly are among the teams high on the accomplished corner. Gardner joins a Colts team that has struggled to staff its CB spots. Ward joins third-round rookie Justin Walley on IR, having suffered a concussion in a pregame workout. Ward is expected back, while Walley is out for the season. The Colts just activated Jaylon Jones, however. Jones joined trade pickup Mekhi Blackmon, Cameron Mitchell and rookie UDFA Johnathan Edwards in an unimposing contingent of outside CBs. Gardner changes that equation.

When Ward returns, the Colts can deploy a Gardner-Ward-Moore trio — one that will be among the NFL’s best if all parties play to their capabilities — and be much better-positioned at the position. The team struggled at the non-Moore CB spots, as Julius Brents could not stay healthy and a gambling suspension ended Isaiah Rodgers‘ Indianapolis tenure, during Gus Bradley‘s final seasons. Lou Anarumo now has a crucial chess piece, as the Colts look to challenge for the AFC’s No. 1 seed.

The Colts sit a surprising 7-2, having seen their offense — prior to a step backward in Pittsburgh — dominate, having scored more points through eight games than any post-merger team in franchise history. The Colts rank first in scoring and seventh in points allowed. Indy’s defensive strength comes through its rush deterrence, however; the team ranks 26th against the pass. The Colts wanted CB and EDGE help at the deadline. Part one of that mission is complete, albeit at a far pricier cost than anticipated, and it will be interesting to see if the Colts call it a day or still add at defensive end.

Gardner’s contract hitting the payroll is also interesting for a Colts team that has seen Daniel Jones deliver a bounce-back start to the season. The Colts may no longer be in the low-cost contract business at QB come 2026, should Jones keep going en route to another raise, so adding the NFL’s biggest DB contract introduces a complication.

Ballard has been a homegrown-centric GM, to a fault almost, during his tenure. Though, Ballard and HC Shane Steichen certainly faced pressure coming into the season. They are far more committed to this year’s roster than they were entering Tuesday. It will be fascinating to see how he manages moving forward, now that he has taken the biggest swing in his executive career.