Sauce Gardner could be part of Colts’ fire sale before trade deadline: Report
The Indianapolis Colts have gone from AFC contender to full-blown sellers in the span of a year, and the player who symbolized their win-now push could be next out the door.
The Colts have already fired general manager Chris Ballard, and traded away guard Quenton Nelson and defensive tackle DeForest Buckner. And after a 42-7 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars last Sunday, it’s easy to understand why they’re open for business ahead of Tuesday’s trade deadline.
However, running back Jonathan Taylor isn’t the only big name who could be on the move.
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Cornerback Sauce Gardner could be dealt as well, according to NFL insider Jason La Canfora, who reported that Indianapolis is expected to make another three or four trades as ownership prepares to tear the roster “down to the studs.”
“Sauce Gardner is likely to return from a more minor injury in Week 8 and the Colts would have to be willing to assume salary to facilitate a trade as he’s guaranteed $26M next season, but between him and Charvarius Ward who is due $18M in 2027 with no guarantees, something is going to give,” La Canfora wrote.
“‘Oh, I think they want to move a corner,’ a high-ranking official told him.
That would be a stunning turn of events for a player the Colts paid a fortune to acquire.
Indianapolis sent its 2026 and 2027 first-round picks, along with wide receiver Adonai Mitchell, to the New York Jets for Gardner at last year’s deadline. At the time, the Colts were 7-2 and leading the AFC.
The move didn’t go as planned. Gardner was limited to just three games with the Colts last season because of a calf injury, and Indianapolis lost its final seven games, finished 8-9, and missed the playoffs.
Now, the price of that trade looks even steeper. With the Colts at 2-6, the 2027 first-round pick they owe the Jets is shaping up to be a high one.
Moving Gardner won’t be easy. He’s in the first season of a four-year, $120.4 million extension that runs through 2030 and made him the highest-paid cornerback in NFL history when he signed it.
For a Colts team that’s already looking toward next offseason without a first-round pick, getting any kind of draft capital back for Gardner might be worthwhile with a new regime on the way.
