Sauce Gardner Ready To Deliver On Big Colts Trade
- Gardner is the sole focus of the Colts' big trade, with high expectations to deliver.
- Injuries have limited Gardner's impact so far, but he's poised to be a key part of the Colts' defense.
- Gardner believes the Colts have the talent to make the playoffs, despite major defensive roster changes.
Sauce Gardner Ready To Deliver On Big Colts Trade
INDIANAPOLIS – When you make a trade the Colts did for Sauce Gardner, the scrutiny on that individual player’s impact falls under a microscope.
So while the Jets can tap into 3 parts of the trade for return: 1st round pick in 2026 (from the Colts), 1st round pick in 2027 (from the Colts) and AD Mitchell, all the eggs of the Colts basket is with Gardner.
That’s why the very early return on Gardner from last season offered very little.
After not missing a single snap in his first two games with the Colts (a win over the Falcons and an overtime loss to the Chiefs), Gardner’s half season debut with the Colts was about to be halted.
In a massive home tilt with the Texans, Gardner went down 2 snaps into the game with a calf injury.
Gardner missed the rest of that critical 20-16 divisional loss, plus following defeats against the Jaguars, Seahawks and 49ers.
The former All-Pro cornerback returned for a Week 17 game against the Jaguars, but more calf ailments led to him playing just 35 snaps, before sitting out a meaningless season finale in Houston.
If you are grading Gardner’s small ’26 sample size, he showed some of what the Colts are hoping they are getting across 17 weeks.
Challenging Gardner is at your own risk, with him still having the ability to blanket one side of the field.
Prior to this year’s draft, Gardner was asked if there’s any additional pressure that comes with being the sole item in return for one of the biggest trades in franchise history.
“It ain’t no pressure,” the 4th overall pick from 2022 says. “We don’t really think too much about that. We think about what we do have. And that’s me, if I got to be the first round pick the next two years, I’m going to work regardless, if that wasn’t the case. So no, it’s already a lot on my plate being me, but it ain’t nothing that I can’t handle.”
Assuming Gardner can stay healthy, which has typically been the case in his young NFL career, he is a massive piece in the Colts trying to create one of the most coveted cornerback duos in the entire league.
More questions are opposite Gardner, with Charvarius Ward Sr. back after debating retirement.
If the injuries stay quiet, a combo of Gardner and Ward would be quite something for the Colts to lean on in a weekly basis.
Whether Gardner wants to admit or not, when the Colts made such a trade it created a ton of pressure on him to be the singular piece to deliver.
Around Gardner, the Colts are replacing 5 new defensive starters in the 2nd season under Lou Anarumo.
Comparing Colts tenures, Gardner is going to be out there in 2026 with several starters that the team acquired after his early November trade.
But Gardner sounds pretty bullish on what the end result will be.
“I feel like we got the guys to get where we want to go,” the star cornerback says. “And bare minimum, that’s going to the playoffs.
“So, I’m very confident in this team in general and the coaches and players and everything.”
