A last-minute blockbuster trade is sending cornerback Sauce Gardner from the New York Jets to the Indianapolis Colts.
In a stunning move, the Colts traded two first-round picks and wide receiver Adonai Mitchell to the Jets for Gardner.
Gardner, 25, a two-time, first-team All-Pro, just signed a four-year $120.4 million contract extension in the offseason.
Gardner won’t have any real estate to unload in the New York–New Jersey metro as his last investment was in the Garden State: a Towaco, NJ, home he purchased in 2022 for $1,460,000.
The 4,000-square-foot home sits on an acre lot and has five bedrooms and 4.5 baths. It’s an entertainer’s dream with a home theater, in-ground heated pool, and hot tub.
Gardner sold the home in March 2025 for $1,655,000.
The only property the cornerback still owns is a Macomb, MI, home he purchased also in 2022 for $474,000.
Who is Sauce Gardner?
Gardner was born in Detroit on Aug. 31, 2000. His first name is Ahmad, but a football coach from his youth gave him the nickname “A1” like the steak sauce.
“I had the moves. I was playing running back. I was saucy with the juke moves,” Gardner told the NFL Network, crediting Little League football coach Curtez Harris with the nickname.
He attended the University of Cincinnati before he was drafted into the NFL. The Pro Bowler returned to the university in 2023 to walk during commencement. While playing professional football, he took classes to earn his degree in interdisciplinary studies.
“It kind of feels like game day,” Gardner told Scott Springer of the Cincinnati Enquirer. “It’s a box that I feel like was unchecked. My mom always told me to put school first. It’s big for me, and I know it’s big for her as well.”
Gardner was the school’s highest draft pick when the Jets picked him at No. 4 in the 2022 NFL draft.
The cornerback said he credits fellow Cincinnati football alums for motivating him to earn his degree, including Kansas City Chiefs‘ Travis Kelce.
Where is Gardner moving to?
Gardner is leaving the Jets, a team with one of the worst records in the NFL, for a team with one of the best records this season, the Indianapolis Colts.
The city of Indianapolis has a population of about 900,000. The median home list price in the Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood metro is $320,000, according to Realtor.com® data.
Gardner will get to choose from a variety of neighborhoods to live in—whether he’s looking to rent near the Colts’ home field of Lucas Oil Stadium, or build a new home in the metro area. Either way, the median price will be significantly less than the New York metro, which stands at $762,450.
Once he settles in, he’ll find a lot of charm in various cities—like this former local grocery store in Brownsville that was converted into a modern loft.
Gardner may also find himself north of downtown Indianapolis in Carmel, IN, which has earned the nickname of “Roundabout Capital of the U.S.”
The Colts are scheduled to play the Atlanta Falcons in Berlin on Sunday. No word yet on whether Gardner will make the trip with the team.
