I was going to break down the Steelers game for my film breakdown this week, but I had a feeling the Colts were up to something. So I held off—and good thing I did.
The Colts capped off their most aggressive acquisition period in the Chris Ballard era by acquiring All-Pro CB Sauce Gardner.
Sauce is an amazing player; nobody needs me to show you that. But we’ll definitely break down how his addition changes what Lou Anarumo will do on defense.
First, though, I want to talk about the ramifications of
this colossal trade. I think Colts fans should be absolutely ecstatic. There are front offices in the league that would never shoot for the stars like this. What Carlie Irsay-Gordon has done in her short tenure as principal owner is outstanding. If I were an owner or GM in the AFC, I would be absolutely terrified by what’s happening in Indianapolis right now. She saw an opportunity to pounce—and she didn’t blink once. Having an owner with a championship over checkbook mentality is a massive advantage in the NFL. Especially when your owner has the experience and the desire to learn about the game of football in order to sign off on decisions like this one.
Most importantly, adding Sauce gives you an opportunity to win games in different ways. We see teams like the Eagles and Chiefs still win even when their offenses aren’t perfect. Despite the historic pace of this Colts offense, the reality is that they won’t just steamroll some of the defenses they’re about to face in the stretch run.
That being said, I’m not the biggest fan of this move, and I wouldn’t have done it. But I should explain why. Don’t get me wrong—adding Sauce to this defense is absolutely massive for the Colts. This gives them yet another All-Pro in the prime of his career to play in what is now the league’s best secondary (or at the very least, in the conversation). He’s likely to completely transform the defense and make them one of the most complete teams in the AFC.
It’s very easy to say “So what!”, “Who cares?”, or “Screw them picks” on the first day of a trade—or if you’re Les Snead after winning a Super Bowl—but those picks do in fact mean something.
The 2026 first is largely irrelevant in this deal. The Colts are likely to be picking anywhere in the 20s or later. If you know Chris Ballard, you know he would almost certainly trade out of the first round to acquire more picks. Those players probably wouldn’t have seen the field in their rookie year anyway, given how solidified this roster is. It makes total sense in a year when the Colts are 7-2 and rightfully feel like one of the best teams in a wide-open AFC to part ways with that pick.
The 2027 pick, however, is what terrifies me. The saying goes something like “Teams in the NFL don’t stay the same year to year—they either get better or they get worse”. There are exceptions, of course, but there’s a reason we see new teams in the playoffs every single year.
Life comes at you fast in this league. Players in the later parts of their prime suddenly don’t return to form, teams know what to expect when they play you again, or you face a tougher schedule than the year before and it catches up to you. It’s a pessimistic way of thinking, but these are all realistic possibilities. What happens if the 2026 season doesn’t go to plan and you end up picking in the top 15—or even top 10—of the 2027 draft? It would be a major gut punch if you don’t have that pick.
This is nothing Chris Ballard doesn’t already know. I’m certain that a GM who has built his career on drafting and developing his roster has thought through this from every angle. But I still have doubts that sacrificing this much of your future for one player is smart. While crucial in today’s NFL, corner is a volatile position. There aren’t many corners who remain consistently elite for long stretches. Even the best corners have years where they just aren’t as sharp.
Sauce is one of the few corners whose floor and ceiling justify the price in theory, but the longevity and consistency of the position are worth noting. Personally, I would not pay this price for any corner.
Philosophically, I don’t think it makes much sense long term. There’s a lot of uncertainty with this Colts roster heading into the offseason. What we often forget is that the contracts of the Colts’ cornerstone players were structured around the future of Anthony Richardson. In the 2023 offseason, often coined the “Run it Back” year, the Colts signed their long list of pending free agents to three-year deals, with guarantees lasting only two years. The vision then was to keep this iteration of the Colts on the same timeline as the QB they drafted with the fourth overall pick.
Of course, things have clearly changed. The Colts now have plenty of decisions to make, none of which are guaranteed. They have to extend Jones, Pierce, Taylor, Nelson, Pittman, and probably Grover Stewart as well. They’ll need to decide on Braden Smith and how to address the DE spot opposite Latu if they don’t bring back Kwity Paye. The list is long.
You can start negotiating contracts with confidence that you’ll be able to retain someone—but things can change quickly. It’s happened before. The Colts do have plenty of cap space since they’re taking on a very reasonable contract, but there are a lot of guys who want—and deserve—to get paid this offseason. There won’t be discounts.
I’m very confident that Chris Ballard, a GM obsessed with building his roster through the draft, has thought through all of this. But that doesn’t change the fact that things don’t always go to plan.
So in short: I’m very excited about what this trade means for the Colts, while also acknowledging there’s a ton of risk to it, and I believe the cons might outweigh the pros (particularly if they don’t win).
So what does Sauce bring to this defense? He is one of the best cover corners in all of football. He is outstanding in press, is almost always in phase, and has an innate ability to identify route concepts in order to make plays in zone coverage.
This play is so impressive to me because he maintains proper leverage throughout the duration of the snap and then get his eyes to find the football. Quenton Johnston is running a Pylon or Deep Corner route. Sauce knows he has help inside and deep on this play. Watch him push the route into the hashes, stay outside and underneath, turn his head around to look for the ball, and use his length to swat the ball out of the air. These are the type of tight window throws Sauce forces QBs to make. This is just one play, that’s frankly routine for him I’m sure, but a microcosm of his skillset
Sauce is also at this best when he can break on routes and use his length and technique to breakup passes. He has a special ability to drive on the football. It doesn’t matter if it’s from press or off coverage. He has the prototypical traits that Chris Ballard covets in corners.
In terms of how this schematically alters Lou Anarumo’s plans on defense? Well your guess is as good as mine. This gives Lou options. And when Lou has options, he’s proved he can deliver results.
I think what we’re likely to see is more match coverage behind some of the pressure Lou likes to bring on passing downs. In today’s NFL everyone is creative in terms of simulated and true pressure. The difference, in my opinion, is how good the coverage is on the backend. The best QBs have seen the looks before. They know what you’re sacrificing schematically and they will find a way to attack it.
Things change when you force them to make a tight window throw under pressure. That is what Lou Anarumo wants. He wants to scheme up good matchups for his pass rushers while forcing you to make a tight window throws under duress. I do expect the Colts to play a lot more man and match coverage the rest of the way.
They also are less susceptible to motion. We see this with Jamar Chase all the time. He won’t line up in one spot. They will motion him into the slot, motion him out wide, or basically move him around to get him favorable matchups because he’s so good he can play in those spots. Well the Colts feel that if you motion your #1 WR to get away from Sauce Gardner, you’ll have to match up against Ward— and vise versa. That is a major advantage.
Earlier in the season, teams would pick on Xaiven Howard or Mekhi Blackmon because they thought they had an advantage—well you can’t do that anymore.
Time will tell if this was the right move for the Colts. The hope is that all of my concerns turn out to be completely irrelevant. It wouldn’t be the first time I worried or disagreed about a Colts move that ultimately didn’t matter. At the end of the day, you’re in the NFL to compete for hardware—and the Colts have made it clear that’s their intention.
If this move does blow up in their face, I may say “I told you so”—but I’m also confident this regime can fix it quickly. There’s nothing more important than your ownership and coaching staff, and I think the Colts have some of the league’s best.
