By Jordan Long
The New Orleans Saints are waiting to see if quarterback Drew Brees will play another year. Assuming he decides to walk away, his cap hit would be $22.650 in dead money. Brees may decide to play again and his cap hit skyrockets to around $36.150 million. If Brees decides to play one more year, they will need to look at other ways to save money. One move could be to cut Emmanuel Sanders.
Sanders was productive in the regular season for the Saints with 61 receptions for 726 yards. He also added 5 touchdowns. Sanders’ average yards per catch was 11.9 yards. Those helped the Saints to a 12-4 record, winning the NFC South Division.
The Saints knocked off the Chicago Bears in the Wild Card Round before falling to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the Divisional Round. Sanders was not productive in the postseason. He was thrown to 12 times with 8 catches for 51 yards but didn’t score a touchdown. Defenses made sure he was covered and Brees didn’t find him consistently like he did in the regular season. It is part of the reason why the Saints playoff run didn’t last.
The Saints need to shred salary for cap space. Sanders’ contract has two years remaining. The cap hit for 2021 is $10.5 million and 2022 is $10 million. Cutting him may be their best option. Sanders is 33 years old and isn’t playing up to his deal. Once the year starts, Sanders will be 34. The dead cap space wouldn’t be that much at $4 million in 2021 and $2 million in 2022.
The Saints might use the money saved on the contract to sign other free agents. They need more than Michael Thomas for the quarterback to throw to. They could also draft a wide receiver who is younger than Sanders and faster.
If Sanders is cut, he will be a free agent. He proved he can still play the game. Sanders could be a slot receiver for a team. He showed he can’t be a #1 or #2 receiver in the NFL anymore. The Saints will do what is best moving forward. It might be to let Sanders go.
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