In a beautiful coincidence, Sauce Gardner expressed optimism that his contract talks with the Jets are headed in the right direction while standing in front of a backdrop advertising Cash App.
Gardner participated in mandatory minicamp this week instead of holding out and accepting a fine to send a message about urgency and leverage in negotiations.
Veterans Trey Hendrickson (Bengals) and T.J. Watt (Steelers) are trying the opposite path.
“I just wanted to show my teammates and the coaches how much I’m bought into this,” Gardner said after Thursday’s practice. “I want to win. I want to be a part of changing the organization.”
Gardner’s first three seasons include a Defensive Rookie of the Year award, two Pro Bowls and two First-Team All-Pro selections.
He is due $5.2 million this season and is under team control on a fifth-year option in 2026.
The easy solution is to make Gardner the NFL’s highest-paid cornerback sooner than later and avoid the flashbacks to standoffs with Jamal Adams and Darrelle Revis.
No need to convince head coach Aaron Glenn — a former Pro Bowl cornerback for the Jets — on the value of lockdown coverage.
That contract ceiling — occupied momentarily by the Texans’ Derek Stingley Jr. at an average annual salary of $30 million over three years — only will continue climbing, and Stingley (No. 3) and Gardner (No. 4) were back-to-back picks in the 2022 draft.
There is plenty of room between Stingley and the No. 2 option, Panthers’ Jaycee Horn ($25 million per year over four seasons).
“My main focus is being the best football player I can be,” Gardner said, “but my team and the Jets have been talking, and I feel really good about how the talks have been going. I don’t really want to get into the numbers.”
General manager Darren Mougey could play hardball and make Gardner wait another year, but it gets tricky with receiver Garrett Wilson and Gardner on the same contract timeline and only one franchise tag available per offseason.
Not to mention 2026 free agents Jermaine Johnson and Breece Hall.
“Since Day 1, [Wilson and I] came here saying we have to push each other because we want to help the organization,” Gardner said. “If you win in New York, it’s big for your legacy individually, big for the organization.
“Fast-forward, we’re going into Year 4 together, and we always talk about competing at practice and how we have to make each other better because we are the building blocks for this organization. We are the homegrown talent that A.G. talks about.”
Critics — and Gardner strangely has more than most top players — say the 24-year-old star took a step back last season when he wasn’t named a Pro Bowler or an All-Pro.
And they point to his low three-year interception total of three compared to Singley’s 11.
“His standard is so high because he’s such a different player than everybody else on the field,” cornerback Michael Carter II said. “He’s focused, locked in. His mindset doesn’t change one way or the other.”
Gardner appreciates the challenge from Glenn and defensive coordinator Steve Wilks to chase perfection.
“I know I’m not perfect,” Gardner said, “but the fact that [Wilks] is trying to get perfection out of me is what I need. I’ve had a lot of early success in the league, and the last thing I need is a new regime to come in here and allow me to be complacent — not saying that’s who I am. It’s great to have those types of guys who are going to demand a lot out of me and push me in ways I’ve never been pushed before.”
Gardner still feels like an “underdog” as a Cincinnati product.
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“Everybody was saying, ‘He’s going to be an All-Pro,’ but they didn’t really believe that was going to happen until it happened,” Gardner said. “Then they quickly jumped ship. I’m really used to it. I always feel like I have something to prove every year.”
The new defense is expected to be more blitz-heavy and man-to-man-coverage based than what Gardner previously experienced.
Is he ready for a new role?
“I thank them every day because they put me in a position to make plays,” Gardner said. “Not me finding ways to make plays and trying to do Herculean things. They are putting me, the rest of our secondary and our whole defense in a position to make plays.”
And playmakers get paid big bucks.