The NFL trade deadline came and went at 4 p.m., and the Colts' move to land cornerback Sauce Gardner from the New York Jets stood as the biggest move of the year – and one of the biggest in-season trades in recent memory.
The Colts traded their 2026 and 2027 first-round picks, along with wide receiver Adonai Mitchell, to the Jets in exchange for Gardner, the 25-year-old two-time first-team AP All-Pro cornerback. The last time a team traded a first round pick for a player during a season was 2022, when the Miami Dolphins sent one first-round pick to the Denver Broncos in exchange for edge rusher Bradley Chubb.
A cornerback hasn't been traded for a first-round pick since the Los Angeles Rams sent two first-round picks and a fourth-round pick to the Jacksonville Jaguars for Jalen Ramsey in October 2019.
The Colts weren't the only team to trade a first-round pick to the Jets before Tuesday's deadline; the Dallas Cowboys sent a first-round pick, a second-round pick and defensive tackle Mazi Smith to the Jets for defensive tackle Quinnen Williams shortly after the Colts' trade for Gardner.
The Colts' trade for Gardner was the franchise's first in-season trade since 2022, when the Colts traded running back Nyheim Hines to the Buffalo Bills for running back Zack Moss and a 2023 fifth-round pick.
In August, the Colts traded a 2026 sixth-round pick to the Minnesota Vikings for cornerback Mekhi Blackmon.
