Sauce Gardner, Jets Agree to Reported $120M Contract as Top-Paid CB in NFL History

The New York Jets committed to holding onto another one of their best young players for the long term.

According to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, the Jets reached an agreement with star cornerback Sauce Gardner on a four-year, $120.4 million contract extension on Tuesday. The deal includes $85.6 million guaranteed, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter.

Gardner was among New York's 2022 first-round picks to have their fifth-year options exercised this offseason, which gave him a $20.1 million salary for the 2026 season and provided the team some extra security before negotiating Tuesday's contract extension.

Gardner took to social media with a celebratory message and confirmed that the deal is completed:

Gardner's new deal will carry an average annual value of $30.1 million, making him the highest-paid cornerback in the NFL, surpassing the $30 million yearly average in cornerback Derek Stingley Jr.'s extension with the Houston Texans.

New York's extension for Gardner came just one day after the team signed star receiver Garrett Wilson to a four-year, $130 million extension with $90 million guaranteed.

First-year Jets general manager Darren Mougey said at the NFL annual meeting that extending Gardner and Wilson was on the "to-do list," but he indicated that he would pursue those deals after the 2025 NFL draft. He managed to get both deals done before the start of training camp next week.

The No. 4 pick in the 2022 draft, Gardner wasted no time in establishing himself as a franchise cornerstone who should be a major part of New York's future. He was named the 2022 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year and earned first-team All-Pro honors in his first two years in the league, making him just the third defensive player and first cornerback in NFL history to accomplish that feat.

However, Gardner struggled to maintain that level of excellence during the Jets' massively disappointing 2024 campaign. He finished the year with career lows of 49 total tackles and nine passes defended in 15 games. He recorded just one interception, which ended a 36-game streak without a pick dating back to his rookie year. He wasn't selected to the Pro Bowl for the first time in his career and he wasn't selected to either All-Pro team.

Gardner was far from the only Jets player to fall short of expectations this past season. New York entered the year with Super Bowl aspirations but quickly fell apart, finishing with a 5-12 record and missing the playoffs for the 14th straight year, the longest active playoff drought in the NFL. Head coach Robert Saleh and general manager Joe Douglas were both fired before the end of the year and were replaced by former Detroit Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn and Mougey, who was previously an executive with the Denver Broncos.

Despite the new regime, it's clear that the Jets still value Gardner. The 24-year-old will need to bounce back in a big way in 2025 and prove that this past season was just a fluke if he hopes to live up to Tuesday's contract extension.