A regime that wasn’t running the New York Jets when the club made cornerback Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner the fourth overall pick of the 2022 NFL Draft signed Gardner to a four-year, $120.4M contract extension this past offseason. That same regime then pulled off a trade-deadline-day stunner when it agreed to send Gardner to the Indianapolis Colts in exchange for two first-round draft choices and out-of-favor wide receiver Adonai “AD” Mitchell. During an on-air NFL Network segment, league insider Tom Pelissero explained how the Jets were able to trade Gardner so soon after they locked him down via a massive extension. “The way that Sauce Gardner’s contract was structured,” Pelissero pointed out, “he got a signing bonus of around $13M. …Because it was only about $13M, that means there was only $10M in cap hits in the future. A $20M option bonus is due in 2026. The Colts now inherit that option bonus. So, for the Jets, they actually save not just cash, but they save cap space going into the future.” In short, it
