The New York Jets have been busy the last two days as they have extended two members of their 2022 draft class in wide receiver Garrett Wilson and cornerback Sauce Gardner. Even though the Jets have been a disaster organization for a long time, they did hit gold with both Gardner and Wilson and now they are both there for the future.
Focusing on Gardner’s deal, it is quite the extension. The Jets gave Gardner a four-year, $120.4 million deal where he will average $30.1 million per year according to Ian Rapoport. Now of course, people are going to say that it’s well-deserved and maybe it is. However, with this contract, the Bills’ deal with Christian Benford becomes a big-time steal for Buffalo as Benford has been just as good as Gardner.
Bills score another win over the Jets (and it wasn't on the field)
The Bills had extended Benford back in late March to a four-year, $76 million deal per Adam Schefter and it just shows you the difference in price for the same amount of years. Again, I’m not saying that Gardner doesn’t deserve his money. I am however saying that the Bills got essentially a little bit of the same production from Benford for a whole lot cheaper.
An $11 million per year cheaper deal is a homerun for the Bills with Benford. Over the last two seasons, Benford has stepped up as an important player for Buffalo’s secondary and now he is their CB1 moving forward. He has only allowed 7 touchdowns against him in three seasons and only allowed 8.5 yards per completion in 2024.
Now both the Jets and Bills have their CB1s locked down on new contract extensions moving forward. While Gardner is more well-known to the eye of the NFL public, Benford is nearly the same type of player but on a more friendly team-deal. Brandon Beane once again has proved that when it comes to contract negotiations, he is one of the best in the business.