The NFL trade deadline never fails to disappoint and the 2025 edition was no different. Small and big names alike were shipped around for various amounts of compensation, but the headline stealer seems to be the Indianapolis Colts pushing their chips towards the center of the table and acquiring Sauce Gardner from the New York Jets for a pair of first-round draft picks.
Advertisement
The move will cost the Colts $131.5 million throughout the next six years, but seeing as they are currently holding a 7-2 record and have the highest-scoring offense in professional football, it’s safe to say that they like the odds on this wager. According to Andrew Siciliano, not only does it bode well for Indy’s playoff aspirations, the move could also suggest that a massive payday is just around the corner for the man they call “Indiana Jones.”
“I think this means that they are all in on Daniel Jones because, if you do this, it means you’re probably going to re-sign your quarterback because you don’t have the draft capital now to go replace your quarterback,” Siciliano said, before adding, “Chris Ballard is a gutsy guy, and I’m using guts instead of another word. This shows some guts, a lot of it.”
The Colts initially signed Jones to a one-year, $14-million contract back in March of this year. That has obviously proven to be a steal of a deal throughout the first two months of the season, but Jones now figures to receive a long-term deal that could very well be in the neighborhood of the one (four-year, $160M deal) that he received from the New York Giants in 2023.
While that rate of pay is more than justifiable for someone who is currently leading the league in both passing yards and passing success rate, Siciliano did feel the need to ponder on if the Colts overpaid for Gardner or not.
“I really, really like Sauce Gardner,” Siciliano prefaced. “But I’d love to know who Chris Ballard was competing against… Did you have to go two ones? Or, could a one and a three have done it? Could a one and a two even have done it? I don’t know, but it’s a lot to give up.”
The Colts’ defense has only allowed the 20th most points of any unit in the league so far, but they have given up the 11th most yards of any team as well. If you’re hoping to make it to the AFC Championship, that simply won’t be good enough.
In that sense, this already seems to be a win for Indianapolis, as the generational talent of Gardner figures to make an immediate impact in that department. Nevertheless, only time can tell us as to whether or not the Colts will be rewarded for finally choosing to be a high roller.
