BREAKING: Jets Trade All-Pro CB Sauce Gardner to the Colts for Two First Round Picks

It’s no secret that the New York Jets have been an abysmal football team this season. With a 1-7 record through nine weeks, New York is all but certain to miss the playoffs once again this year. But the defense and specifically, defensive studs like two-time All-Pro cornerback Sauce Gardner have been the lone bright spots on this team.

But the Jets are now flipping their defensive superstar to the NFL-leading 7-2 Indianapolis Colts ahead of the NFL’s trade deadline. The Colts are acquiring Gardner, the fourth overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, from the Jets in exchange for two future first-round draft selections.

BREAKING: Jets are trading CB Sauce Gardner to the Colts. (via @RapSheet) pic.twitter.com/MRT06JrHze
— NFL (@NFL) November 4, 2025

Gardner had recently signed a four-year, $120.4 million extension with the Jets in July 2025, a contract the Colts will now be responsible for honoring.

This feels like the kind of trade you make before your star player is up for an extension: if you don’t want to pay him, you ship him out on the last year of his rookie contract and get some picks in return. Instead, the Jets pull on the heartstrings of their fans by locking up a two-time All-Pro cornerback long-term, just to turn around and trade him five months later.

Getting two first round picks back sounds good on paper, but as mentioned, Gardner was the fourth overall pick in 2022. With the Colts currently leading the NFL at 7-2, the 2026 first round pick that New York receives will likely be towards the end of the round, and on their current trajectory, Indianapolis doesn’t look likely to convey a Top 10 pick in 2027 either.

It feels like a best-case scenario for the Jets to draft even one player as talented as Gardner with these two picks. Which means it’s time to break out the tried and true Family Guy meme…

The boat is obviously a Pro Bowl-caliber cornerback, in this scenario.

Shifting perspectives to that of the Colts: this is an aggressive, win-now move, with Super Bowl 60 in the crosshairs. Indianapolis is giving up the chance on two potential franchise building blocks to spruce up their defense with a shutdown cornerback. And of course, the move isn’t only to help the Colts win this season, with Gardner locked up long-term after this season. But with everything seeming to break right for the Colts roster this season, the trade is definitely an attempt to build off their strong start and turn this season in to one that will be remembered for a long-time.

Who won this trade? Did the Jets alienate their fans, or was the return for Gardner enough? Did the Colts give up too much, or was this a calculated moved to stay atop the NFL even longer? Join the conversation with Sakmann Sports on Twitter/X, on Facebook, or by commenting directly on this post!

UPDATE 11:38AM MT: The Colts are also sending second-year receiver AD Mitchell to the Jets as part of the trade.