After a rough day for his New York Jets, which included allowing a 43-yard touchdown by George Pickens, Sauce Gardner is taking hits from fans and the media alike.
Gardner, who became the highest-paid cornerback in the NFL over the summer when he signed a four-year, $120.4 million contract extension, has likely had the worst start to a season in his career so far. And it didn't get much better against the Dallas Cowboys, who cruised to a 37-22 win over the now 0-5 Jets.
The poor play has not gone unnoticed, and, never one to hold back on letting his feelings be known, Pro Football Hall of Famer Shannon Sharpe was particularly blunt in his analysis of Gardner.
“I don't like to be the bearer of bad news, but Sauce Gardner hasn’t been the same since his rookie year,” Sharpe said on and Chad Johnson's ‘Nightcap' podcast. “If we being all the way honest, if we being 1,000% honest, he hasn’t been the same since they started calling all that clutching and holding that they let him get away with his rookie season. Chad, y'all know it. Watch the tape. Watch him. He ain't the same. He the highest-paid [cornerback], congratulations. But ain't no way I'm putting him up there with [Derek] Stingley, I'm putting him up there with [Patrick] Surtain. Nah. Not even close.”
While it's undeniable that Gardner has not been nearly as good in 2025 as he was in 2022 as a rookie, when he won NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year and was named a first-team All-Pro and Pro Bowl selection, Gardner was certainly still excellent in his second year. In 2023, Gardner again earned first-team All-Pro and Pro Bowl honors, which made him the first cornerback ever and only the third defensive player to be named to the All-Pro first team in each of his first two seasons in the league.
Still, Gardner, with as big of a contract and role on the team he has, must improve, and so do the Jets.
Through five weeks, the Jets are the only team in the NFL without a win. They will certainly hope to change that at some point during this three-game homestand, the first leg of which against Dallas proved to be failure.
They'll have two more cracks at it before going back on the road; next week, the Jets host the Denver Broncos, who just handed the Philadelphia Eagles their first loss. Another home game vs. the Carolina Panthers follows. On Sunday, Carolina defeated the Miami Dolphins, who beat the Jets last week.
