New York Jets, Sauce Gardner
Credit: Lucas Boland-Imagn Images
The New York Jets have two of the league’s best young talents in wide receiver Garrett Wilson and cornerback Sauce Gardner. While the organization wants to extend both star playmakers, it will come at a very high cost based on Gardner’s reported asking price.
Rich Cimini of ESPN.com writes that Gardner is expected to use the Derek Stingler Jr contract as a baseline for his deal with New York, which would mean making him by far one of the highest-paid NFL players at his position.
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The Houston Texans signed Stingley Jr., the third overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, to a three-year extension worth $90 million total. Stingley’s $30 million average annual salary is $5 million more than Jaycee Horn’s salary, who is the second-highest-paid cornerback in the NFL. Currently, only four cornerbacks have a $24-plus million AAV.
Gardner, age 24, is coming off a career-worst season. After earning first-team All-Pro honors in consecutive seasons, the 6-foot-3 cornerback dealt with inconsistency. In addition, his tackling became such an issue that he was taken off the field at times.
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Sauce Gardner stats (2024): 86.9 QB rating, 541 receiving yards, 15.4 yards per completion allowed on 58 targets in 15 games
New York is very hopeful that a new regime will help Gardner return to form. First-year Jets head coach Aaron Glenn coached defensive backs from 2014 to 2020 with the Cleveland Browns and New Orleans Saints. Glenn’s scheme could also benefit Gardner.
Between the extensions for Gardner and Wilson, the Jets would likely be investing upwards of $60 million per season into their top cornerback and wide receiver. It’s an expensive price to pay for a team that still needs to find a franchise quarterback, but it’s the cost of doing business for two positions that have become increasingly more important in the modern NFL.
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