EA has just made a mess out of NFL Twitter and the fact is that the reactions are all mixed together. The official Madden account has tweeted a trade confirmation: Sauce Gardner the cornerback is moving to Indianapolis Colts. This is one of the busiest trade deadline updates for Madden 26 and they are also inviting the Colts fans to start their franchise mode with powerful teams. But the replies… they are another story.
To start with, for those who don’t know, Sauce Gardner is one of the top cornerbacks not only in NFL but everywhere, known for his technical and skillful play. In franchise mode of Madden NFL 26, if you get a player like him, the outcome of the game would definitely favour you. The tweet has a picture of the trade confirmation next to it and the Colts logo is included as well. But what is more than just excitement, are dissatisfied players airing their complaints.
One user MegaMane, for example, did not waste any time to respond, “Fix the IR bug in franchise mode. And try to do it before next year’s game drops please.” Oops. That’s a hard blow. Players are voicing their frustration over a persistent issue with Injured Reserve in franchise mode. They consider it outrageous to promote new content while the old one is still buggy.
Then, there is this issue about PC players getting a rough treatment. The user PopeOfChaos complained: “PC H2H+Online is still broken and it’s been TWO WEEKS!!!!” And Hero_XxXxX_, commenting on that said “Day 10 PC players still can’t Madden No updates to what going on.” It seems the trade update may be nice but the PC gamers, who represent a significant portion of the players’ base still struggle to play the game online. That certainly is a very unfortunate situation.
Grant Schaeffer’s reply was especially fiery: “NOW FIX THE GAME ON PC YOU FRAUDS!!! We spend thousands on MUT for what??! EA is the most fraudulent disgusting gaming organization ever. I wish we could sue you.” Wow, that is really a harsh disappointment. It makes one think that a big concern is indeed the players’ feeling of being neglected after they have put down a lot of money, especially in Madden Ultimate Team (MUT).
However, some fans are just perplexed by the specifics. Pedro was curious, “Do we have the picks already? 👀” and Justin Swanson went further asking, “Will draft picks be moved as well?” The Madden trade may not include the draft picks that accompany a real NFL trade and this is a frequent criticism in franchise mode—the inability to trade in a realistic way.
Moreover, the interaction between fans is also hilarious. Jalen (dior6s) found it funny that someone focused only on the Colts: “Niggas care way more about the colts then the raiders🤣🤣” and Sportztalkburna added “Bro thinks this the only trade that happened in the entire NFL this year lmfaooo #ydkb” (you don’t know ball). The age-old sports fan rivalry is being played out in the gaming world once again.
Pauline Jxubat even pointed out a visual detail, tagging @Equipment_Guru with a proper way to attach a mouthpiece to the facemask, thus showing how detailed players can be when it comes to authenticity. And JJetsX remarked, “He actually Gets picks in Madden,” which relates to how Gardner’s in-game performance might sometimes surpass real-life stats.
But wait a second, wasn’t I saying something? Oh, yes, the general vibe is one of excitement mixed with major letdown. Gamers can’t get enough of these updates—like, seahawks_empire just said, “Chop chop update rosters,” conveying the need for up-to-date rosters to keep franchise mode exciting. But they also expect the base game to function perfectly. It’s like EA is putting new paint on a car that has a broken engine, and the community does not approve of this.
After all, the trade of Sauce Gardner to the Colts in Madden 26 is an attractive feature for fans of franchise mode particularly the Colts’ fans, who can now bolster their defense. On the other hand, the negative reactions about bugs, especially on the PC and franchise mode issues, are very loud and clear. EA has to keep releasing new content alongside fixing the broken parts, or the player base might just turn against them. Meanwhile, if you are a console player and love franchise mode, why not take the Colts with Sauce on board? But if you are on PC, it’s better to wait until the online issues are resolved first. The Madden community is very active and they will certainly make their concerns known when something goes wrong. So, that’s the news — updates are nice but a working game is better.
