One of the league's brightest and catchiest-named superstars has been traded. The Colts, having decided to put a Super Bowl push on their list of things to do, added New York Jets cornerback Sauce Gardner.
The Jets just signed Sauce to an extension, too, which will baffle a lot of fans as to why they would give him such a big extension if they weren’t going to keep him.
It also caught Sauce himself off guard, Rich Cimini reported on his X account:
“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. They had no inkling before that, he said. Sauce has no negative feelings toward the Jets; he understands it's a business, Allante said. Sauce did get a call from Aaron Glenn. #Jets”
Ian Rapoport first broke the news about the trade on his X account and quickly followed up with another post saying:
“this is real.”
The full details of the trade were later revealed by Adam Schefter:
🏈Colts receive CB Sauce Gardner.
🏈Jets receive 2026 and 2027 first-round picks and WR AD Mitchell.
This move should put the Colts on everyone’s radar if they weren’t already. Just adding sauce alone makes them a top-five competitor, and if they keep this trajectory going, they could be the team to beat in the AFC going into the playoffs.
The Colts' cornerback room now looks like Sauce, Johnathan Edwards, Mehki Blackmon, and Kenny Moore II. That’s a formidable four-man room that looks to be able to blanket any team in the league.