Emmanuel Sanders has nothing left to prove. Among active players, the former Super Bowl champ is No. 10 in all-time receiving yards and No. 7 in all-time receptions (or No. 8 and No. 5, respectively, if Antonio Brown and Larry Fitzgerald are finished). Simply put, Sanders has put his stamp on the game of football. With free agency upon us, and with Sanders already acknowledging he could retire, what are our predictions of where he might be when Week 1 of the 2022 season rolls around? Here are four realistic predictions.
Predictions for Emmanuel Sanders in 2022 NFL Free Agency
On the verge of turning 35, Sanders presumably would be viewed as a veteran role player on a new team rather than as a weekly mainstay. This makes him a solid fit for either a young rebuilding team or a Super Bowl contender.
I believe the latter scenario is far more likely. He’s played in seven playoff games for three different teams in his last three seasons. In choosing between retirement and continuing his career, landing on a 4-13 club wouldn’t sound appealing.
Green Bay Packers
Aaron Rodgers never has enough receivers, or at least that’s how it seems. Injuries ravaged his receiving corps last year, including curtailing Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Robert Tonyan’s promising campaigns. Regardless of how things go retaining Davante Adams, this franchise will need another pair of sure hands.
Assuming Sanders wants to play for a contender, the Packers fit the bill. He would replace MVS (assuming the latter moves elsewhere), and he could be counted on as a No. 3 or No. 4 receiving option. In other words, he wouldn’t merely be a situational contributor. Alongside Adams and Allen Lazard (assuming the Packers lock them both in), Sanders could maintain weekly value.
Kansas City Chiefs
We last saw Sanders in the Bills’ historic playoff matchup against the Chiefs — a game that might result in an NFL rule change to ensure both teams get a shot in overtime. Any game that leads to a rule change is a game to remember. And no doubt, Sanders has to see the Chiefs as a fantastic landing spot.
Byron Pringle might be on his way out, opening the door for another 50-600-6 receiver to complement Tyreek Hill, Travis Kelce, and Mecole Hardman. The fact is, Patrick Mahomes can feed four receivers throughout a season, and this squad appears poised to make another run at a Super Bowl, despite playing in the increasingly competitive AFC West.
If Sanders wants the best of all worlds — consistent playing time on a team loaded with homegrown talent that already knows what it takes to win it all — then the Chiefs might be the answer.
Arizona Cardinals
My original draft of this article included the Buccaneers with the belief Tom Brady would need another reliable veteran. Because when they needed to step up late last season, Tampa Bay’s tertiary receivers like Tyler Johnson and Breshad Perriman were not up to Brady’s standards. After I turned in the article, PFN editor and writer Dallas Robinson said, “Uh, B.J., the Bucs just signed Russell Gage.”
So yes, Brady got another competent receiver. And now we need to turn to another likely landing spot — a team that just lost its No. 2 receiver and co-starting running back, and probably will lose its No. 3 receiver soon.
Arizona no longer has to contend with the Russell Wilson-led Seahawks in the NFC West. But they still have to navigate their division’s treacherous terrain across San Francisco and Los Angeles. Kyler Murray, DeAndre Hopkins, Zach Ertz, and James Conner cannot do it alone. The latter three are either in their primes or nearing post-prime age, depending on your cynicism level.
This franchise needs to bolster its receiving corps quickly. Rondale Moore could take a professional leap in an expanded role. But in the meantime, as we saw last year when Hopkins went down, this team lacked the depth we thought it had midseason when they started 7-0. Sanders would help stop the offseason bleeding and give them a little more insurance heading into a pivotal season for a franchise with a narrower Super Bowl window than we might have imagined a year ago.