Sauce Gardner and Steve Van Zandt (Photos via Getty Images)
New York Jets star Sauce Garder was seen hanging out with rumored mob boss “Skinny Joey” Merlino at a party in Florida this weekend.

The latter, whose full name is Joseph Salvatore Merlino, is described as the “boss of the Philadelphia crime family,” having seized control of the Borgata in the mid-90s after overthrowing previous boss John Stanfa.

The 62-year-old isn’t afraid of the spotlight and has over 100,000 followers on Instagram, where he posted a video of himself hanging with Gardner on Saturday.

“My main man @saucegardner stay tuned Podcast coming soon 🎙️🌶️🇮🇹 🏈,” he wrote as the caption.

“Coolest italian thats actually cool with brothas,” a user remarked.

“Hopefully he’s pepareing to not get hurtled by Josh Allen twice in 1 game 😂,” another joked.

Sauce Gardner’s New Friend Has Done Some Serious Time

Merlino was sentenced to a federal prison on racketeering and other charges in 2001, with he and six other defendants walking on murder charges. He was released in 2011 but returned for a brief spell for illegal gambling.

He made the news in May after a fire broke out at his cheesesteak shop, Ace of Steaks, in Philly, with police suspecting arson.

“The Fire Marshall responded to the scene declaring an arson,” Philadelphia cop Tanya Little said then.