Like the Jets as a whole, Sauce Gardner did not live up to expectations this season. The two-time All-Pro was not selected to the Pro Bowl, as the Jets plummeted to 5-12 despite regular playoff expectations. The team still has some extension matters to navigate.
The three first-round picks the team made in 2022 — Gardner, Garrett Wilson, Jermaine Johnson — are now extension-eligible, as is starting running back Breece Hall. While the Aaron Rodgers matter may overshadow everything else (player-wise, at least) until he is off the Jets’ roster, the franchise still has a number of matters to sort out involving its rookie-contract contingent.
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Wilson is not believed to have seen eye-to-eye with Rodgers, and rumors about a trade request continue to surface. The Jets will have new decision-makers ticketed to deal with the Wilson matter soon — a number of GM and HC interview requests went out today — but Gardner is a more accomplished player who is also free to sign a new deal now. Unlike Wilson, Gardner has made his long-term wishes known.
“I want to be part of this for a long time,” Gardner said, via ESPN.com’s Rich Cimini. “I want to be part of the change in this organization.”
This comes after a host of reports tabbed Woody Johnson (and his sons) as being overly involved in personnel decisions, creating more instability for the franchise that has the NFL’s longest active playoff drought — at 14 seasons. The team found a gem in Gardner, however, despite his slight step backward in Year 3. The former No. 4 overall pick is a two-time first-team All-Pro, already rocketing to the top fifth-year option tier — which doubles as the franchise tag value — at corner. The Jets will pick up that option by May, giving them two more years of control.
The physical corner has long been deemed a big-picture priority, while slot defender Michael Carter already signed his extension. With Carter signed and the Jets — barring a drastic approach change from the next front office — eyeing a Gardner extension, D.J. Reed appears close to gone. The former 49ers and Seahawks CB’s three-year deal expires in March, and he has already alluded to testing the market. Reed expanded on that stance recently.
“Obviously, in this league, it’s about winning,” Reed told the New York Post’s Bridget Reilly. “But, you could go to a good organization, you think is a good organization, and the…