Jets’ CB Sauce Gardner addresses potential extension while attending minicamp: ‘I want to win’

New York Jets star cornerback Sauce Gardner is now eligible for a contract extension, but he wasn’t interested in holding out of mandatory minicamp to put pressure on the franchise that selected him No. 4 overall back in 2022. Gardner wanted to show everyone he’s more focused on winning games in 2025. 

“I just wanted to show my teammates, show the coaches how much I’m bought into this” Gardner told reporters on Thursday. “I want to win. I want to be a part of changing the organization.” 

The Jets technically hold Gardner’s rights for two more years. According to Spotrac, he’s set to make $5,266,473 in 2025, then $20.2 million in 2026 on the fifth-year option if it comes down to that. Gardner was asked if he was optimistic a deal would get done, and he responded in the affirmative. 

“My main focus is being the best football player I could be,” Gardner said. “But my team and the Jets have been talking and I feel pretty good about how the talks have been going.”

The former Defensive Rookie of the Year is coming off of what was statistically his worst NFL campaign. Gardner led the league with 20 passes defensed in his first NFL season while picking up Pro Bowl bids and First Team All-Pro selections in both 2022 and 2023, but he recorded just 49 tackles, nine passes defensed and one interception in 15 games played last year. Still, Gardner has an argument to reset the cornerback market. 

Gardner said he didn’t want to get into the “numbers” when asked if becoming the top-paid cornerback in the NFL was important to him, declaring he just wants to play football. But, it’s something to consider. 

The cornerback market was reset twice this offseason. In March, Carolina Panthers defensive back Jaycee Horn agreed to a four-year, $100 million deal, then Houston Texans cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. — the only cornerback selected over Gardner in 2022 — signed a three-year, $90 million contract that included a whopping $89 million guaranteed. Stingley’s $30 million AAV has towered over all corners for three months now, but Gardner could be the one to surpass it.