.@ESanders_10 gives us an update on his future in the @NFL.
"I want to make sure I'm passionate. I don't want to cheat myself and I don't want to cheat a team. I'm trying to figure it out." pic.twitter.com/T7AQVb7fn0
— Good Morning Football (@gmfb) April 4, 2022
Here’s something worth watching. Former New Orleans Saints wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders is a free agent again after playing out a one-year contract with the Buffalo Bills, but he’s weighing all of his options before committing to play season No. 13 in the NFL. Now 35 years old with a young family to support and his best days behind him, the two-time Pro Bowler is taking a hard look at whether it’s time to hang up his cleats.
He spoke about where his head — and his career — is at during a Monday appearance on NFL Network’s Good Morning Football program, saying: “I want to make sure I’m passionate. I don’t want to cheat myself and I don’t want to cheat a team. I’m trying to figure it out.”
Sanders would obviously make sense for the Saints. Wide receiver is their worst position group, with all their hopes hinging on Michael Thomas returning to form after two injury-plagued seasons. Sanders knows the offense and most of the coaching staff and could help put youngsters like Marquez Callaway and Deonte Harty in advantageous situations. And he probably would be an inexpensive option after playing for the Bills on a $6 million contract in 2021.
New Orleans could sign Sanders to a short-term deal, pick a young prospect in the 2022 NFL draft to learn from him, and suddenly have a clear plan at one of their most chaotic areas on their depth chart. Pairing him with a handpicked successor early on like Chris Olave or Jameson Williams (who is still recovering from ACL surgery) would make a lot of sense. They could also draft a player later on who needs more time to develop, like John Metchie (also recovering from ACL surgery) or Velus Jones Jr. (who didn’t hit his stride until the 2021 season). The point is, adding a budget-friendly veteran who can help in multiple ways makes sense for the Saints.
But that hinges on there being mutual interest here, and that’s in question at least from Sanders’ perspective. If he’s not sure he has another season in him, he deserves the opportunity to bow out on his own terms. And we don’t know if New Orleans is on his radar at all, frankly. But given the best remaining receivers are mostly at a similar place in their careers (like 33-year-olds A.J. Green and Julio Jones, and Cole Beasley, who will soon join their age bracket), they may not have a choice but to go with an older player at the position. We’ll just have to wait and see how it shakes out.
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