The Colts’ season has already turned into a teardown, and Sauce Gardner may be the next major name to go before Tuesday’s trade deadline.
Indianapolis has moved from contender to seller in a hurry. The team has already fired general manager Chris Ballard and traded guard Quenton Nelson and defensive tackle DeForest Buckner. After last Sunday’s 42-7 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, it’s no surprise the Colts are open for business.
Jonathan Taylor is not the only star who could be on the move, either.
According to NFL insider Jason La Canfora, Gardner could also be dealt as Indianapolis prepares to make another three or four trades and 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 jarring twist for a player the Colts paid a massive price to land.
Last year at the deadline, Indianapolis sent its 2026 and 2027 first-round picks, plus wide receiver Adonai Mitchell, to the New York Jets for Gardner. At the time, the Colts were 7-2 and sitting atop the AFC.
The deal never really paid off. Gardner played only three games for Indianapolis last season because of a calf injury, and the Colts dropped their final seven games, finished 8-9, and missed the playoffs.
Now the trade looks even more costly. With the Colts sitting at 2-6, the 2027 first-round pick they owe the Jets is trending toward being a high selection.
Gardner’s contract makes any move complicated. He’s in the first year 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.
Still, with a new regime looming and no first-round pick in hand, Indianapolis may decide that getting some draft capital back for Gardner is better than holding onto him through the reset.
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