A group of NFL players made headlines last week following alleged investments gone wrong with a New Jersey man named Mohamed Coulibaly, who was recently found dead.
NFL star cornerback Sauce Gardner can now relate to his colleagues who lost money due to an investment, although his financial dispute is with a Michigan business owner named Nicholas Sanborn.
Gardner filed a $1.4 million lawsuit against Sanborn and his company, Sanborn Construction Group, on Monday in Wayne County, Michigan, which includes the city of Detroit, TMZ reported.
Gardner is seeking damages after initially meeting Sanborn through social media this past March.
The current Indianapolis Colts cornerback alleges that Sanborn influenced his decision to purchase a 102-year-old apartment building in Detroit for $935,000. Gardner then says he relied on Sanborn Construction Group to complete massive renovations on the property.
Gardner wired Sanborn $500,000 for the renovations, per the lawsuit, but then the NFL defender says that Sanborn ghosted him on the updates about the property.
Further to his dismay, on May 16, 2026, Sanborn Construction Group posted a video on its YouTube channel featuring Gardner. The video was titled, “COMPLETELY RESTORING An Abandoned 102 Year Old Historic Apartment Building With Sauce Gardner.”
The company had 188,000 subscribers on YouTube at the time of writing, and the company Instagram account had over 23,000 followers. The channel features many videos touting alleged renovation projects undertaken by Sanborn Construction Group.
Gardner attempted to get his $500,000 payment back from Sanborn last month, and ordered him to stop any further renovations on the apartment building, per the lawsuit. However, Sanborn is accused of purchasing $160,000 in supplies from Home Depot after that demand.
As a result, the cornerback is suing for breach of contract, unjust enrichment, fraudulent inducement, fraudulent concealment, and negligent misrepresentation.
Sanborn has not responded to the allegations in the lawsuit, per TMZ.
Gardner is entering his fifth NFL season after he was drafted by the New York Jets in 2022. The Jets traded the cornerback to the Colts last season in a blockbuster deal that sent two first-round picks back to the Jets.
Gardner played just four games for the Colts following the trade, though, due to a calf injury.
The former All-Pro is attempting to regain his top form with the Colts in 2026 after a decline in his play last season; Gardner is in the midst of a four-year, $120.4 million contract extension he signed with the Jets in 2025 prior to the trade.
