The New Orleans Saints landed Emmanuel Sanders on Friday night, signing the veteran wide receiver to a two-year, $16 million deal that could be worth up to $19 million.
Sanders also had interest from the Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers, but he passed on both clubs to join the Saints.
So, just what is New Orleans getting in Sanders?
Well, assuming he stays healthy, the Saints now finally have a legitimate No. 2 receiver for the first time in what seems like forever.
For some reason, New Orleans has avoided addressing this obvious issue for quite some time, leaving Michael Thomas on an island all by himself.
It hasn't stopped Thomas from posting historic numbers, but it has somewhat inhibited the Saints' offense, making it fairly predictable.
For example, New Orleans' second-leading wide receiver this past season was Ted Ginn Jr., who caught 30 passes. The year prior? It was Tre'Quan Smith, who logged 28 catches.
The Saints have relied heavily on their running backs and tight ends to compensate for their lack of production from the No. 2 receiver slot, with guys like Alvin Kamara, Latavius Murray and Jared Cook stepping up.
But really, New Orleans has needed someone else along Thomas for a while now, and it finally has it in Sanders.
Sanders is coming off of an impressive 2019-20 campaign in which he split time with the Denver Broncos and San Francisco 49ers. In 17 regular-season games (yes; 17) between the two clubs, he hauled in 66 receptions for 869 yards and five touchdowns, quite the year for a guy who tore his Achilles in 2018.
If Sanders can give New Orleans that type of output next season, this will be a home run signing for the Saints.
Of course, there are no guarantees.
Sanders is 33 years old, and he has that nasty Achilles injury in his rearview mirror. He was able to buck the trend of athletes never recovering from it by somehow playing in every game this past year, but we can't overlook the fact that the injury did happen.
Not trying to be negative; just saying that Sanders does come with some caveats.
The good news is that Sanders showed no signs of slowing down due to the injury this past season, as he actually had his best year since 2016.
So let's just say that Sanders remains healthy in 2020. Imagine, then, how dangerous and explosive this New Orleans offense could be?
Obviously, much of this depends on Drew Brees, who is 41 years old. We don't know how much more he has left in the tank, and one of these years, he is going to decline.
But assuming that Brees will be alright, man; he is finally going to have a pair of legitimately reliable wide outs to throw to.
The only downside will be for Fantasy Football owners who may own Thomas, as his targets and ridiculous numbers will almost certainly dip due to Sanders' presence next year. Of course, Thomas himself won't care, which is all that matters.
It has been very clear that the Saints have needed something to get them over the hump, and Sanders could do just that.
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