Jets 'Pushed' to Add Adonai Mitchell to Sauce Gardner Deal, per Team Insider

The deal also included two first-round picks.

Mitchell will head to New York as part of the Sauce Gardner deal. / Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

According to a report from Zach Rosenblatt, a Jets reporter for The Athletic, New York actually urged Indianapolis to include wide receiver Adonai Mitchell in the bombshell trade for cornerback Sauce Gardner, for which the Colts also gave up two first-round picks.

Per Rosenblatt: "By the way, on the Adonai Mitchell part of the Sauce trade: the Jets pushed the Colts to add him into the deal. He wasn't originally part of it. They believe in his potential."

By the way, on the Adonai Mitchell part of the Sauce trade: The Jets pushed the Colts to add him into the deal. He wasn't originally part of it. They believe in his potential.

— Zack Rosenblatt (@ZackBlatt) November 5, 2025

That the Jets would attempt to sweeten their side of the swap with another piece is not surprising; that's just negotiation 101. But it does shed some light on Mitchell's perceived value. With Indy, the young receiver boasts a modest 152 receiving yards this season, and also had a pretty bad goal-line drop back in September, when he fumbled what would have been a go-ahead touchdown vs. the Rams (in addition to a holding penalty that erased a Jonathan Taylor score). He's had just one target in each of his games since then, possibly as a result.

But in New York, it stands to reason he'll get much more of the workload, and the Jets clearly think he'll rise to the occasion, past mistakes aside. So, although he might be sad to leave the 7-2 Colts for a 1-7 team, at least he's going somewhere he's very clearly wanted—they asked for him, after all.

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