When the New York Jets traded Sauce Gardner to the Indianapolis Colts, they did so roughly four months into a four-year, $120.4 million contract.
You hardly ever see a player get traded like that, especially so soon after inking a monster extension.
But general manager Darren Mougey clearly had a plan when structuring the contract, and it made moving Sauce a whole lot easier.
Darren Mougey reveals why Jets could trade Sauce Gardner
Speaking to the media after the trade deadline had passed, Mougey explained why the Jets could trade Gardner.
"The process for doing that contract is a very detailed one. We had a lot of discussion going through that contract process and some of the details we had in that contract because you never know how the future is going to unfold, and we always wanted to be in a position to potentially trade these contracts," Mougey told the media via The Athletic's Zack Rosenblatt.
"(We) made that contract a tradeable contract in case that you get into a situation where the value is just too good to pass up. That happened to be the case here."
In Gardner's contract, the per-year bonuses don't pick up until 2026, leading people to believe New York structured it that way on purpose to make a trade easier.
Well, Mougey revealed just that to the press yesterday after the trade deadline.
Now, the Jets start a new era, one without two of their most recently successful defensive players, but armed to the teeth with draft capital to turn it around.
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