Chris Ballard Defends Sauce Gardner Trade After Colts' Historic Late-Season Collapse

The Indianapolis Colts looked the part of Super Bowl contenders with a 7-2 record when they traded two first-round picks and wide receiver Adonai Mitchell to the New York Jets for cornerback Sauce Gardner.

It was the type of aggressive move that can pay off in the immediate future for such contenders, even if the price to pay was high.

But it didn't pay off for the Colts. In fact, they collapsed down the stretch and missed the playoffs entirely, which makes it easy to second guess the move with the benefit of hindsight.

General manager Chris Ballard isn't doing that.

"I would still do the move again today," he told reporters Thursday. He called Gardner a "premier corner," which is "not easy to find" and highlighted the 25-year-old's age and unfortunate calf injury that prevented him from making the impact down the stretch as once expected.

"I kept asking myself, I said, 'look, would we get this guy in the draft? Okay, maybe if we get a little luck,'" Ballard said. "But you're talking about a premier guy. … Sauce has got a really bright future. He's going to be a core piece here for us for a while."

It seemed like it would all work out, as Gardner was on the field when the Colts improved to 8-2 with a win over the Atlanta Falcons in Germany. However, they lost their final seven games making them the first team since the 1995 Oakland Raiders to start 8-2 and miss the playoffs, per ESPN's Stephen Holder.

▶️ Full Falcons-Colts Recap

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Quarterback Daniel Jones was lost for the season to injury during that losing streak, and Indianapolis ended up turning to 44-year-old Philip Rivers because backup Anthony Richardson was also out.

Gardner himself was in and out of the lineup with injury, meaning he was part of the Jets' dismal start to the season and the Colts' dismal finish.

Fortunately for the AFC South team, he is just 25 years old with a track record that includes a Defensive Rookie of the Year, two First-Team All-Pro selections and two Pro Bowl nods. If he ends up playing at that level in the future for the Colts, the trade may end up being worth it.

And Ballard stressed that in his latest comments.