Colts Acquire Sauce Gardner From Jets in Trade-Deadline Shocker

New York is reportedly moving on from the two-time All-Pro.

Sauce Gardner is reportedly headed to the Colts. / Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

After four years with the Jets, star cornerback Sauce Gardner is reportedly headed elsewhere.

New York is trading Gardner to the Colts for the latter team's next two first-round picks and wide receiver Adonai Mitchell, according to a Tuesday morning report from Ian Rapoport of NFL Network. The stunning deal, if confirmed, would send Gardner west just under four months after he inked a four-year extension with the Jets worth $120 million; Gardner's new team will pay him $131.5 million for 5.5 years of services.

MORE: NFL Trade Deadline Tracker

As for the Colts, the deal would give them another chess piece in their bid for the AFC's top seed. Indianapolis is 7-2 and ranks seventh in the NFL in scoring defense; the Colts will match their win total from 2024 with one more victory.

"Having the opportunity to acquire a talented player like Sauce Gardner was one we did not want to pass on," Indianapolis general manager Chris Ballard said in a statement.

Sources: The #Jets are trading Sauce Gardner to the #Colts. Blockbuster.

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) November 4, 2025

ESPN sources: Colts are trading two first-round picks to the Jets for CB Sauce Gardner. pic.twitter.com/kX7mFK1Cw4

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) November 4, 2025

New York drafted Gardner fourth in the 2022 draft after he made the All-America team at Cincinnati in 2021. He immediately established himself as one of the NFL's best defensive backs, making back-to-back All-Pro teams to begin his career before injury slowed him in 2024.

The Jets are currently 1-7, last in the AFC East.

---

More NFL on Sports Illustrated

feed