Re-Signing Emmanuel Sanders Became a Luxury, not a Necessity
And just like that... he's gone.
Wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders has officially departed the San Francisco 49ers.
Sanders signed a two-year, $16 million deal worth up to $19 million with the New Orleans Saints. The 11-year veteran reportedly had interest from the Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys, but ultimately elected to take his talents to the bayou.
The departure of Sanders was a bit expected. San Francisco simply didn't have the salary-cap space to meet his price range. Of course, they would have loved for him to be return to the team as his addition influenced the development of Deebo Samuel.
Nevertheless, re-signing Sanders became a luxury, not a necessity.
His impact did aid the passing game of the 49ers dramatically when they acquired him from the Denver Broncos via trade. However, once the 49ers received the No. 13 pick from the Indianapolis Colts in the DeForest Buckner trade there was no longer a pressing need to retain Sanders.
The 49ers are now able to bring a top draft prospect, something that was nearly impossible to do with pick No. 31 alone. San Francisco will have the luxury, or at least hopefully, of having the ability to select CeeDee Lamb, Jerry Jeudy or Henry Ruggs. These players would do phenomenal under the tutelage of Kyle Shanahan.
Best part of all is that they will have these players on rookie contracts, which will only tickle the salary-cap. Whereas if they re-signed Sanders, he would've drained their resources. Don't get me wrong, Sanders is a solid player and deserves his contract with the Saints.
But for the 49ers, investing in a 33-year old player who has a questionable injury history given their current situation is not ideal.
They're better off using their No. 13 pick to draft a young and promising wide receiver. Even pick No. 31 could possibly used to bring a veteran receiver from another team. Maybe Browns receiver Odell Beckham Jr. as I argued here.
Another reason why re-signing Sanders wasn't a pressing need anymore is because of who they already currently have. Trent Taylor and Jalen Hurd missed out on the Super Bowl campaign due to injuries. They are both slated to return in 2020 ready and fully healthy.
While they are unproven essentially, the fact is that the 49ers have pieces already in place. They just need to develop these guys. Taylor has actually already proven capable as he had the best rapport out of all the wideouts when Jimmy Garoppolo was first traded to the San Francisco 49ers.
What gets forgotten about the trade for Sanders was that he was mainly brought in because of Taylor and Hurd being placed on injured reserve. That made the receiver position insanely weak. Relying on rookie Deebo Samuel was not ideal at the time and the 49ers were in the middle of a Super Bowl run. They needed to make a move and got great value in trading for Sanders.
The return of Taylor and Hurd allotted the 49ers a sufficient comfort level along with the No. 13 pick. It also made it convincing to not go after him due to the limited salary-cap space.
Sanders' departure was to be expected even before the Buckner trade. He was just used a piece to help propel the 49ers' passing game. Now that he is headed to New Orleans the only question remains: was he worth the trade?
Absolutely. The 49ers essentially only gave up their third-round pick to the Broncos. It's a loss that they are feeling now that the draft is a month away.
Nevertheless, the 49ers made the right decision in trading for him at a time where the wide receiver position was severely lacking. Adding him to the roster factored into the 49ers' Super Bowl appearance, so the trade was ultimately worth it.
Sanders will be a missed member in the locker room, but these young receivers that he oversaw are not novices anymore. 2020 should bring about intriuge from the position, especially if the Niners use pick No. 13 to take a touted prospected.
