The Indianapolis Colts made a bold move at the trade deadline, sending 2026 and 2027 first-round picks to the New York Jets for cornerback Sauce Gardner. Fresh off a four-year, $120.4 million contract extension this past summer with New York, Gardner’s arrival signals the Colts' belief that his impact justifies the price. With this trade, the Colts are betting on both his upside and the challenges that come with him.
Gardner is a good corner. Standing at 6’3” and 190 pounds, his athleticism and length, along with anticipation, allow him to make some extraordinary breaks on the football. For example, he laid out to make a pass breakup versus the Atlanta Falcons in Germany on a pass he read as a three-step drop from the quarterback and understood it was going to be a quick pass. But, as well as he is able to read and anticipate, there are times when he completely misses the play. An example of this also happened in the game against the Atlanta Falcons. Sauce was in zone and anticipating the play. He was in zone and not man-to-man defense, but he carried the wide receiver like he was in man-to-man, and the result was wide receiver Drake London inexplicably matched up with a linebacker, which was too easy for London, as Falcons quarterback Michael Penix Jr. Lobbed an easy touchdown pass to London.
Sauce is extremely talented and can anticipate well at times, but he also tried to anticipate in the wrong situation. His choice led to a Falcons touchdown. Sure, the Colts came out on top in the end, but if that game was tight, could you depend on Gardner to go off-script, or would you prefer him to do what he is supposed to do? The correct choice would have been to just play your area and adjust as needed. There is such a thing as knowing when you can and cannot make those decisions. And that is where the Colts have to understand that he can do these types of things for better or worse.
Along with Sauce playing the guessing game at times, he needs to improve his footwork. The positioning he has when he jams the wide receiver is one that shows an ultimate trust in his abilities. But while that confidence is something that you would want any corner to have, he has to clean up some things. For example, he tends to want to be more physical when jamming wide receivers. That is fine to do, but you also cannot lunge at the wide receiver or forget your footwork while being caught up in being physical with a wide receiver.
Sauce Garner is an incredibly talented cornerback and can be an elite corner for the Colts. The problem is the inconsistencies that happen at times. If he can come into this Colts organization, clean up the mistakes and be the impact player many think he is and can be, then the Colts got their lockdown corner to add to Mooney Ward on the opposite side, a cornerback. And Sauce being elite also takes their defense up a notch in this more modern version of the NFL.
No one knows whether Gardner will be it all together consistently, but the Colts were willing to take a swing to see if they can make it happen.