FLORHAM PARK, N.J. (AP) — Sauce Gardner had already gotten a contract offer from the New York Jets that would make him the NFL’s highest-paid cornerback when he received some more exciting news.
He was working on a commercial last week when his marketing agent told him that teammate — and fellow 2022 first-round draft pick — Garrett Wilson also received a huge extension. Gardner called Wilson, the two spoke for a few minutes and Gardner made a cool play.
“I was like, I don’t want to do my deal today,†Gardner recalled Tuesday as the Jets reported for training camp. “I told my team that we’re not agreeing to it today. I want Garrett to have his day, this full day to himself to just feel good about himself and to spend that time with his family and stuff like that.
“I’ll do mine tomorrow and that’s how it went. And we were just very excited.â€
Wilson last Monday and officially signed the deal four days later. Gardner last Tuesday and signed it after showing up at the facility a week later with the rest of his teammates.
“Me and Garrett were talking, saying how we’ve got to compete, how we’ve got to make it seem like we’re underpaid still, you know?†Gardner said. “So that’s our mentality that we both have. Looking forward to it, man.â€
With the deals, the Jets made long-term commitments to two players considered foundation pieces with a new general manager in Darren Mougey and head coach in Aaron Glenn focused on building for the future.
They both won rookie of the year honors for their side of the ball. Gardner was an All-Pro his first two seasons and remains one of the NFL’s most highly regarded cornerbacks.
“I’s a blessing, but it’s only the beginning,†he said. “Things that I’ve accomplished, that’s all in the past. ... I know it’s the floor, but there ain’t no roof. The sky’s the limit for me, and I’m very aware of that.â€
Wilson has more than 1,000 yards receiving in each of his first three years, the first player in franchise history to accomplish the feat.
The Jets have the NFL’s longest active playoff drought at 14 seasons, and that distinction gnaws at Gardner and Wilson despite all their individual achievements and accolades early in their careers.
“I’ve been here for three years, we haven’t won many games,†Wilson said. “I haven’t had the season that I’ve hoped and for them to still come in here and believe in me and say, hey, we think you can be a part of the successful side of this thing for years to come is awesome. So I’m ecstatic, man, for real.â€
Gardner had a down year last season by his standards, but
“I’m Sauce,†he said. “I mean that in the most humble way. Like, no matter what I do, they’re going to make a huge deal out of it. I could miss a tackle — there’s a lot of people that miss tackles — but I just understand that I’m me, so people are just going to blow things out of proportion.
“But even with them doing that, nobody’s a bigger critic of me than myself.â€
And that drives him to be even better than what he achieved his first two seasons.
“I want to be the best,†said Gardner, who turns 25 on Aug. 31. “That’s not just this season, but that’s like in general, like my legacy that I want leave. I want to win games. And I think we have the players, the coaches and everything that it takes to win games — and to win a lot of games. So, you know, I’m just looking forward to that. That’s my main thing.
“I know my individual accolades, those are going to come with us winning games.â€
Wilson, who turned 25 on Tuesday, has a similar approach — saying he needs to cut down on his drops, run cleaner routes and get into the end zone more. He acknowledged he dealt with frustration through the losing of his first three NFL seasons, but never doubted a deal would be done with the Jets.
“I’ve always kept my faith in that this thing’s going to turn around and that I’m going to be a big part of why it does,†he said. “There’s times where you have some days where you know are harder than others, right? I’m not superhuman. I’ve had days where I’ve been down and felt like things weren’t going our way, my way, maybe. But the next day, I always kind of came back down to earth.
“Coming to work here with these people and people that believe in me, I don’t take that lightly.â€
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