The NFL trade mill was churning this year at the deadline, and one transaction that stood out was New York Jets cornerback Sauce Gardner making his way to the Indianapolis Colts. The Colts are looking good this season and doubled down on their secondary to shore up the defense.
However, despite Gardner being a well-known name around the league, given his initial years at the pro level, not everyone is sold on him anymore.
Did the Colts Lose Out in the Sauce Gardner Trade?
Former NFL scout John Middlekauff, who worked for the Philadelphia Eagles from 2010 to 2013, wasn’t fond of Indy’s move to acquire Gardner. The Colts gave up two first-round draft picks (2026, 2027) and wide receiver Adonai Mitchell for the Jets’ corner.
Middlekauff gave his take in a “3 & Out” podcast clip on Tuesday, commenting on what Indianapolis traded away for Gardner.
“That’s insane,” he said. “I don’t agree. I think it’s too much. And, immediately, I started texting around. As one executive put it to me, ‘What does [GM] Chris [Ballard] have to worry about?’ He came into this year on the hot seat. What are they gonna do — fire him? So, now that they’re good, to double down?”
He compared Gardner to the Colts’ CB1, Charvarius Ward, saying:
“Their corner position, Charvarius Ward, when he’s healthy, is a high-end, winning player. Sauce Gardner simply is not. And the other thing, while Sauce is an All-Pro his first couple of years, a wise man in the league told me within the last 12 months, ‘If they ever start calling Sauce Gardner for pass interference, we’re gonna have problems. And what happened? Last year, they started officiating him differently.
“And it was hard because he couldn’t just maul you down the field, because he’s not some twitchy, fluid athlete like Derek Stingly. He doesn’t, I would say, have great ball skills. And what he definitely is not, for a tall, long corner — Richard Sherman as a tackler. As a player, whatever he did at Cincinnati, and even his first couple of years with the Jets, that’s a long time ago now.”
Middlekauf gave his perspective on what he would’ve done instead of acquiring the Jets’ corner:
“I just think it’s pretty risky… Would I have rather, if I’m Chris Ballard, double down on the defensive line? We already have [DeForest] Buckner. I drafted the UCLA kid. To me, I’d rather have Quinnen Williams on my team, if all things are equal, than Sauce Gardner… [This] is the easiest trade the New York Jets will ever make.”
How things pan out for both teams after the trade remains to be seen.
