It’s been a while since it was good to be a New York Jets fan.
Sauce Gardner doesn’t want to commiserate with them.
The eternally rebuilding Jets bolstered their pass defense Thursday night by taking Gardner with the fourth overall pick in the NFL Draft. He can do it all, and from Day 1 will be tasked with guarding some of the top receivers in the AFC East.
New York took Gardner, wide receiver Garrett Wilson and edge rusher Jermaine Johnson in the first round. All fill big needs for the Jets, who have built, at the very least, a fascinating young core of players.
Gardner appeared on the “Around the NFL” podcast after being drafted. And as one of the hosts laid out the Jets’ failed attempts to get to the postseason or advance far into it, Gardner actually stopped him.
“I don’t want to cut you off, but we’re not living in the past,” Gardner said (33:07 mark in the player above). “We’ve got to make changes for the future, I feel like I’m the solution, we just got my guy Garrett Wilson, I feel like he’s also a big solution, so I can just wait for us to get there and be able to be great teammates.”
The East will be a rockfight this season. The Dolphins have only gotten better, and the Bills already were one of the top teams in the league. The Patriots are getting back on track, and Mac Jones should take a step forward next season. The Jets had to make meaningful additions in order to keep from falling too far behind.
Now, we’ll have to see what more they need in order to be a legit contender to get into the postseason.
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