Old Sauce Gardner Quote About Wanting to Stay With Jets Makes Colts Trade Even Sadder

Gardner was traded to Indy at Tuesday's deadline.

The Jets drafted Gardner with the fourth overall pick of the 2022 draft. | Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

If you're a Jets fan and still can't stomach the loss of cornerback Sauce Gardner, perhaps don't read this one.

On Tuesday, New York traded its star defensive back—with whom they had just signed a $120 million, four-year extension in July—to the red-hot Colts, who sent over two first-round picks and wide receiver Adonai Mitchell in return. It was one of the biggest bombshell deals of the league's trade deadline, considering Gardner's ties to New York and his overall talent.

Immediately after the news went public, Gardner tweeted out a sad message for fans: "New York it's been real," he said on X (formerly Twitter).

But that's still not as heartwrenching a quote as the one from this now-resurfaced video, in which Gardner talks about wanting to be a part of the Jets' turnaround for the long haul.

"I want to be the reason. I want to be a part of the change in this organization," the corner said in a clip dating back to January, prior to signing his extension. "If I was to go somewhere else and then it was to change, I'd be a hater. For real. I'd probably be the No. 1 hater, so. That's just what it is. So, I want to be a part of this for a long time. ... I want to be one of the reasons it changes."

Sauce Gardner joked earlier this year prior to signing his extension with the Jets that he’d be their “number 1 hater” if he was to go elsewhere and they turned it around:

“I want to be part of the change in this organization”pic.twitter.com/YmsHd2zg1U

— Jets Videos (@snyjets) November 4, 2025

Woof. That's tough to watch back now.

At the very least, the first-round picks the Jets received could help change the organization for the better. That's probably not the manner of impact Gardner was imagining, but it is something.

And who knows, maybe he'll feel better once he experiences the thrill of winning alongside one of the league's best teams at the moment. He'll get his first shot on Sunday, when Indy takes on the 3-5 Falcons in Berlin.

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