The Indianapolis Colts recently fell back down to Earth with a blowout road loss at the hands of the Pittsburgh Steelers, stalling the momentum they'd been working so hard to build for the first half of this season. Both sides of the ball were a disaster in this game, and on Tuesday, the team made a big move to help shore up the defensive side with a monster trade with the New York Jets.
“Sources: The #Jets are trading Sauce Gardner to the #Colts. Blockbuster,” reported NFL insider Ian Rapoport on X, formerly Twitter.
ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter then clarified that the Colts would be sending two first round picks to New York in exchange for Gardner's services. The picks will be in 2026 and 2027, per Tom Pelissero, who also reported that receiver AD Mitchell will also be going to the Jets.
Gardner himself then took to social media, writing “New York it's been real,” on X, alongside green and white heart emojis.
Sauce Gardner remains one of the most talented young cornerbacks in the league in 2025, but has for the most part been withering away on a Jets team that has been among the worst in the NFL this year.
Meanwhile, the Colts, who were not thought to be much of anything heading into this year, suddenly have played their way into contender status despite the recent loss to Pittsburgh, and are now clearly all in on making win-now moves in the hopes of competing for a championship.
Gardner figures to make a Colts secondary that was already an elite unit one of the best NFL, and the hope for the Colts is that they will be a strong team for years to come, which would make those first round picks less valuable, as they would occur toward the end of the draft.
The Colts will next take the field on Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons in a game to be played in Berlin.
