On the day gamers reported for coaching camp on Tuesday, Sauce Gardner revealed that he and Garrett Wilson each agreed to contract extensions on the identical day.
However there was a cause the 2 offers had been introduced on back-to-back days.
“Right before that, the Jets had sent an offer with the details that they were going to make me the highest paid [cornerback],” Gardner stated. “Then Garrett obtained signed and I used to be like ‘I don’t wish to do my deal immediately. I don’t wish to conform to it immediately.’
“I informed my group, ‘We [are] not agreeing to it today. I want Garrett to have his full day to himself, feel good about himself, and to spend time with his family, and I will do mine tomorrow.’
“That’s how it went and I was just very excited.”
Gardner and Wilson each have 1,000,000 causes to be enthusiastic about their contract extensions, which had been agreed upon final week. Gardner is now the highest-paid cornerback within the NFL after signing his four-year contract extension value $120.4 million.
Throughout his first three seasons, Gardner has turn out to be the most effective cornerbacks within the league. He has been a two-time first-team All-Professional, a two-time Professional Bowl choice and gained the 2022 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Yr award.
Nevertheless, Gardner, 24, is coming off a less-than-stellar 2024 season through which he dedicated 11 penalties, in comparison with solely 5 throughout his first two seasons. Additionally, opposing quarterbacks accomplished 56.9% of their passes and had an 86.9 passer ranking, in accordance with Professional Soccer Reference.
Regardless of his newfound wealth, Gardner continues to be motivated to show to his naysayers that he is without doubt one of the NFL’s finest.
“I want to be the best,” Gardner stated. “That’s not simply this season, however typically. My legacy that I wish to depart is, I wish to win video games and I believe we have now the gamers, the coaches and every little thing that it takes to win video games and win loads of video games.
“I’m just looking forward to that and that’s my main thing. My individual accolades, those are going to come with us winning games because I know our coaches are putting us in position and they are going to put me in position to make plays. Individually, it is something that I’m not worried about. I just know that us winning games, everything else is going to come.”
Wilson hasn’t had the person accomplishments Gardner has throughout his three seasons. However Jets first-year coach Aaron Glenn and common supervisor Darren Mougey made it a precedence to maintain him within the Inexperienced and White till after the 2030 season.
Wilson, 25, signed a four-year contract extension value $130 million. His extension can pay him an annual fee of $32.5 million, which makes him the fifth-highest-paid receiver within the NFL.
Wilson has been one of the vital constant Jets gamers after registering three consecutive 1,000-yard seasons. Nevertheless, it wasn’t way back when there was hypothesis on whether or not Wilson can be with the Jets after final season.
All through the years, Wilson has expressed his frustration after struggling three straight shedding seasons. He has additionally caught passes from a number of quarterbacks, together with Zach Wilson, Joe Flacco, Mike White, and Aaron Rodgers. Wilson shall be catching passes from Justin Fields this season, who was his former teammate at Ohio State for 2 seasons.
Regardless of a troublesome 5-12 season in 2024, Wilson nonetheless completed with a career-high 101 catches for 1,104 yards and 7 touchdowns. However says he was additionally assured that he would stick with the Jets for the long run.
“I’ve always kept my faith that this thing was going to turn around and why I’m going to be a big part of why it does,” Wilson stated. “There’s instances the place you will have some days are more durable than others.
“I’m not superhuman. I’ve had days the place I’ve been down and felt like issues weren’t going our means, my means, perhaps. However the subsequent day, I all the time form of got here again right down to earth and, and coming to work right here with these folks.
“It takes time to rebuild stuff like that, you know and I built that here.”
Now with the contract extensions out of the best way, each Gardner and Wilson can deal with coaching camp and getting the Jets out of a darkish abyss from 9 straight shedding seasons and never making the playoffs since 2010.
Glenn shall be tasked with serving to the Jets obtain that aim after he was employed in January. Throughout his six-plus months on the job, Glenn has already begun to determine a tradition that the gamers have purchased into.
Glenn was the Lions’ defensive coordinator for 4 seasons. Throughout his closing two seasons, the Lions gained 27 of their 34 video games and made the playoffs throughout each seasons. That features a 15-2 common season report final 12 months.
“He has done this thing,” Wilson stated about Glenn. “He’s performed at a excessive degree. He’s been a Jet earlier than, which for me is like big.
“These items, our issues, we could have had these first three years, and the obstacles he’s simply been a participant within the league, he’s gone by means of, he can relate. To not point out, he’s seen the blueprint for what it means to take a group that hasn’t had a lot success and switch them right into a top-of-the-league premier group.
“He’s seen the blueprint twice or three times. So for me, that’s really all I needed to hear.”
