One year after trading cornerback Sauce Gardner to the Indianapolis Colts and defensive tackle Quinnen Williams to the Dallas Cowboys on November 4, 2025, the three teams have a combined record of 14–35.
Indianapolis Colts general manager Chris Ballard was fired October 19. Jets head coach Aaron Glenn holds a 4–13 record this season. Colts head coach Shane Steichen is 3–13. Dallas Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer faces growing scrutiny if the team fails to contend for the NFC East title.
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Gardner, 25, missed five games since the trade due to calf injuries — including four late last season while the Colts were competing for a playoff spot. Indianapolis lost 42–7 to the Jacksonville Jaguars in its most recent game. The Colts do not hold a 2027 first-round pick.
Williams, 28, made the 2025 Pro Bowl with Dallas and leads the Cowboys with five sacks this season. He ranks second in the NFL with 11 tackles for loss and signed a three-year, $105.9 million contract extension in August.
The Jets currently roster three players acquired directly from the trades: wide receiver Adonai Mitchell (24), tight end Kenyon Sadiq (21), and nickelback D’Angelo Ponds. Sadiq had a 105-yard receiving game in Week 3 but has not matched that production since. Ponds missed training camp with a calf injury and has played 64 defensive snaps. Azareye’h Thomas, a 2025 third-round pick, started in Gardner’s place and ranks 14th among 81 cornerbacks in yards allowed per coverage snap — without an interception in 13 starts.
Mitchell missed four games this season due to a surgically repaired finger. He recorded 142 receiving yards in his most recent outing. The Jets used a second-round pick acquired from the Williams trade to move up and select wide receiver Omar Cooper Jr., who has two 100-yard games.
New York’s defensive tackles have three sacks this season and none rank in ESPN’s top 40 in pass-rush win rate. The Jets carry nearly $21 million in 2026 salary-cap obligations tied to the trades, though rolling guarantees on Gardner’s extension reduced some financial exposure.
The Jets project to hold the fifth (their own), sixth (Colts), and 14th (Cowboys) picks in the 2027 NFL Draft. They are one of two teams in the past 25 years to enter the draft with three first-round selections. With 36-year-old Geno Smith viewed as a bridge quarterback, selecting a franchise signal-caller remains the team’s top priority.
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