“. . . Three weeks later, on Monday, with the sides close to a deal and the trade deadline looming, Ballard was talking with Colts owner Carlie Irsay-Gordon about the potential trade as the GM prepared to make an offer, and she asked, ‘Do you want to Band-Aid it or fix it for the long term?’
Ballard fixed it. Sauce Gardner would be a Colt.”
Of course, the Colts ultimately made national headlines, acquiring the former New York Jets’ 2x NFL First-Team All-Pro cornerback for their 2026, 2027 first round picks, as well as wideout AD Mitchell.
Per ESPN NFL analyst Pete Schrager, many of those in league circles didn’t even know that Gardner was realistically available:
“I will tell you, Sauce had no idea he was being traded,” Schrager said via Clutchpoints.com. “Other teams around the league were texting me like, ‘Did you know he was up for sale?’ I’m like, ‘He wasn’t up for sale unless you offer two picks and a wide receiver that they could use on their team today.’”
By Breer’s account, the Colts didn’t know initially either, until new New York Jets general manager Darren Mougey indicated to Indianapolis assistant general manager Ed Dodds that anyone was available on their defense, and while they weren’t looking to necessarily deal Gardner, even their young All-Pro cornerback.
With Irsay-Gordon’s nudge, the Colts looked to fill the position not just with key cornerback competition or a potential stopgap, but with one of the best young cornerbacks in the league—albeit at a steep price.
Irsay-Gordon providing last minute words of wisdom ahead of a franchise-altering trade is not all that different from when her father, late team owner Jim Irsay, in the draft war room, urged Ballard and his football ops team to trade up and select star Wisconsin running back Jonathan Taylor with the 41st overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft.
The Colts’ top brass had all been consistently discussing Taylor and remained enthralled with him as a top running back prospect throughout that year’s pre-draft evaluation process.
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