The New Orleans Saints made a pretty solid splash this offseason when they signed veteran wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders in free agency.
Unsurprisingly, they were not the only team that was vying for Sanders' services, though. Another team that was courting the wide receiver pretty heavily was the Green Bay Packers.
However, Sanders chose the Saints, ultimately signing a two-year deal worth $16 million (and could go up to $19 million) with New Orleans.
According to Matt Scheidman of The Athletic, Sanders gave his reason why he decided to go with the Saints over the Packers on The Rich Eisen Show.
Emmanuel Sanders tells @richeisen (I don't think Sanders was joking) that weather and location played a role in choosing Saints over Packers in free agency:
"It's just Green Bay. That cold weather, Rich, I wasn't trying to do it."https://t.co/nlmnmGVRno
— Matt Schneidman (@mattschneidman) March 30, 2020
What could it be? Could it be something crazy? Something that will start a beef between the two teams?
Maybe Sanders doesn't like the coaching staff or thinks Aaron Rodgers is overrated? Nope. Nothing like that: It's simply the weather.
There were likely multiple factors in his decision making. Sanders probably wasn't just going to choose whatever team had the best weather. But it certainly might have swayed him when deciding between his various options. After all, it's smart to take every factor into account in a decision such as this.
Sanders likely weighed the teams' potentials, situations, rosters, contracts and more. However, there is also a comfort level. If Sanders couldn't decide between Green Bay and New Orleans, weather definitely could have been a factor. Why be miserable in the cold if he didn't have to be?
Both the Saints and Packers have elite quarterbacks and went 13-3 in the 2019 regular season. They both also have strong coaching staffs and good rosters and also a clear role that Sanders would have in the offense.
But New Orleans plays in a dome and is much more southern than Green Bay. It sounds like that's what helped the Saints snag a great veteran receiver in Sanders.
Follow Us
Subscribe