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Nfl Trade Grades Jets Tear It Down With Sauce Gardner Quinnen

Bonisiwe Shabane
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nfl trade grades jets tear it down with sauce gardner quinnen

The Colts acquired premier cornerback Sauce Gardner from the Jets in exchange for a pair of first-round picks and wide receiver AD Mitchell. Luke Hales / Getty Images The NFL trade deadline has come and gone, and it didn’t disappoint. The New York Jets stole all the headlines (including ours) by trading away two of their best players in cornerback Sauce Gardner and defensive tackle Quinnen Williams, in exchange for a haul of draft... It’s all about the future now for the Jets. The same, however, cannot be said for the Indianapolis Colts, who sent a pair of first-rounders to New York for Gardner.

The Colts clearly believe the AFC is up for grabs, and they pushed their chips to the center. Of course, the Gardner and Williams deals weren’t the only ones of significance made in the past 24 hours. There have been plenty of moves that could change the course of the season, and we’ve broken them all down here, providing some brief thoughts, analysis and, of course, trade grades for every deal... The New Orleans Saints traded offensive lineman Trevor Penning to the Los Angeles Chargers for a 2027 sixth-round pick, league sources told The Athletic. The Chargers have one of the best young tackle tandems in the NFL with Rashawn Slater and Joe Alt. Problematically, however, both are done for the season with injuries.

At 1-7, it was easy to imagine the New York Jets parting ways with players at the NFL trade deadline. But it’s safe to say no one was ready for the absolute shockwave New York would send throughout the league. Two defensive cornerstones are gone, cornerback Sauce Gardner is an Indianapolis Colt, and Quinnen Williams is a Dallas Cowboy. A total of three first-round picks and a second-round pick are coming back to the Jets, along with defensive tackle Mazi Smith and wide receiver Adonai Mitchell. Did general manager Darren Mougey get value with his blockbuster deadline deals? If there's one thing that's clear about NFL trade deadline day, it's that the New York Jets are in full rebuild mode.

Shortly after sending shockwaves around the league by trading All-Pro and Defensive Rookie of the Year winner in cornerback Sauce Gardner to the Indianapolis Colts, the Jets weren't done there, and they still likely... Now it's defensive tackle Quinnen Williams' turn, as the All-Pro and three-time Pro Bowler was traded to the Dallas Cowboys on Tuesday afternoon. In return, the Jets received a 2026-second round pick, a 2027 first-round selection and defensive tackle Mazi Smith from Dallas. With less than an hour until the 4 p.m. trade deadline, it seems as if the Jets aren't done yet with players such as running back Breece Hall, linebacker Quincy Williams and potentially others expected to be on the move if deals go... The Colts and Jets added plenty of excitement to Tuesday’s NFL trade deadline, executing a shocking trade that came out of nowhere.

New York traded star cornerback Sauce Gardner to Indianapolis for two first-round picks and second-year wide receiver Adonai Mitchell. This is a stunning deal, even with the Jets at 1–7. Gardner is only 25, was viewed as a core player and was just given a four-year, $120.4 million contract extension in the offseason. While the Jets are ready for a complete makeover, the Colts went all in after a surprising 7–2 start. Indianapolis needed to make a few defensive moves to support its productive offense and to be taken seriously as a Super Bowl contender. Here are the grades for this shocking trade.

Sign Up. SI NFL Newsletter. Get MMQB's Free Newsletter. dark In the lead-up to Tuesday, there seemed to be a serious shortage of superstar players on the trade block, with the likes of Myles Garrett and Maxx Crosby seemingly off limits. But a flurry of action gave way to a truly stunning deal with a little more than three hours remaining to the cutoff, as the Indianapolis Colts agreed to acquire two-time All-Pro cornerback Sauce...

The swap sends one of the league's most accomplished young defenders from the bottom of the AFC to the top of the conference. It also single-handedly reshaped each team's outlook for both the short and long term. Where did this version of Chris Ballard come from? Getting uncharacteristically bold has served the Colts general manager extremely well in the past few months, as his more aggressive moves helped set the table for Indianapolis' resurgence. This, however, is the kind of move that Ballard might have laughed off as pure fantasy or speculation in previous years. Now, it's his reality.

There's strong incentive for Indianapolis to try to fully capitalize on what it has this season. And at 25, Gardner can be an asset for years to come. But this was an exorbitant price to pay for a player already due a massive sum. The 2025 trade deadline in the NFL has been kicked into overdrive. While smaller deals filtered throughout Tuesday morning, the Indianapolis Colts and New York Jets took it to a new level. The first blockbuster of deadline day has been agreed to with All-Pro cornerback Sauce Gardner being dealt from New York to Indy in exchange for two first-round picks.

This is as big of an in-season trade as you'll find in NFL history and one that came out of left field. While the Jets do find themselves with one of the worst records in the NFL at 1-7 and at the bottom of the AFC East, Gardner was not on the bingo card to be... That's especially true given that the team had just inked him to a four-year, $120.4 million contract extension back in July. For the Colts, this is a home run swing as they double down on their 2025 roster that has exceeded expectations and is currently the No. 1 seed in the NFL, entering Week 10 at 7-2. This is a deal that will have the NFL buzzing, but how did each club do in the blockbuster?

Below, we'll hand out our grades for this mega trade between the Jets and Colts. After a 7-2 start to the season that has them slotted as the No. 1 seed in the AFC at the moment, the 2025 Colts were worth investing in, and the front office did just that with a massive swing for Gardner. Offensively, they have one of the top units in the league with Daniel Jones, Jonathan Taylor, and Tyler Warren leading the way. One of their key weaknesses, however, came on the defensive side of the ball, specifically in the secondary. There, the club ranked at the bottom of the league in some vital areas.

Passing yards per game outside the numbers NFL trade deadline grades: Analysis for Sauce Gardner, Quinnen Williams and more 2025 deadline deals originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here. What impact did all the midseason deals before the 2025 NFL trade deadline actually have on the teams that acquired players? With teams set to enter Week 10 of the 2025 NFL season, contenders are aiming to bolster their depth charts for a run at the Super Bowl, while those out of the playoff hunt... What trades stand out among the rest?

Here's breaking down every move that's happened in Oct. 1 through Nov. 4, the final day to make trades: NFL TRADE TRACKER: Latest deals, rumors, reports ahead of deadline day

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