The 7-2 Colts are going all-in on a Super Bowl run, while trading the CB was just part of the Jets‘ busy day.
The last time the Indianapolis Colts were considered this strong of a Super Bowl contender was 2014, when they entered Week 10 with 10-1 odds to win the title. They made it to the AFC Championship Game that year.
The Colts started Tuesday with 12-1 odds to win the Super Bowl, and that improved to 11-1 after acquiring Sauce Gardner from the New York Jets for two first-round draft picks.
The Colts (7-2) obviously believe they have their strongest chance to win their first Lombardi Trophy since the 2006 season as they went all-in for the 25-year-old Gardner, whom the Jets made the highest-paid cornerback in the offseason.
Indianapolis travels to Berlin, Germany, this weekend to face the Atlanta Falcons (9:30 a.m. ET, NFL Network), but it’s uncertain if Gardner will be ready in time to play. The Colts are hopeful.
Moving the 2022 fourth overall draft pick wasn’t the only major deal the Jets made before Tuesday’s 4 p.m. ET deadline. They also dealt defensive tackle Quinnen Williams to the Dallas Cowboys for a second-round pick in 2026, a first-rounder in 2027 and defensive tackle Mazi Smith.
The Jets are firmly in rebuild mode and have accumulated several high draft picks. But how quickly can they turn things around?
Colts reporter Stephen Holder, Jets reporter Rich Cimini, NFL draft analyst Matt Miller and NFL analysts Matt Bowen and Aaron Schatz break down the trade from various perspectives. And Cowboys reporter Todd Archer weighs in on whether the trade puts the Micah Parsons-to-Green Bay deal in a new perspective.
Holder: Possibly. It’s the most formidable roster they’ve had under GM Chris Ballard, who has presided over just one playoff victory in nine seasons.
He hasn’t made many big swings like this, and when he has, the results have been mixed. The Colts traded a first-round choice for defensive tackle DeForest Buckner in 2020, and that move netted them one of the team’s best players of the past five years. But Ballard’s move to acquire quarterback Carson Wentz with first-round and third-round choices in 2021 did not pan out well.
That Ballard is making, perhaps, the boldest move of his career should say quite a lot about the Colts‘ current position and their postseason hopes.
Cimini: They’re out of the Sauce business, but they have plenty of juice for the 2026 and 2027 offseasons — five first-round picks, including a 2027 first-rounder from the Williams trade. It gives them plenty of draft capital to maneuver for a quarterback, their biggest need.
After a 1-7 start, the Jets‘ new regime — coach Aaron Glenn and GM Darren Mougey — recognized the roster is more deficient than initially anticipated. This will allow them to fill multiple holes. The team got an early start, as former Colts wide receiver Adonai Mitchell was included in the trade.
