Big loss?
The 49ers let wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders sign with the Saints on Friday. Sanders signed for two years and $16 million, and will make one of the 49ers’ biggest NFC rivals even more difficult to beat.
Last year at the trade deadline, the 49ers traded their third-round and fourth-round picks in 2020 to the Broncos for Sanders and a fifth-round pick. Sanders was a rental —nothing more. The 49ers felt they needed a quality veteran receiver like him to reach the Super Bowl. And they were right.
Sanders made an immediate impact. He had 502 receiving yards in 10 regular-season games with the 49ers, and he helped improve Jimmy Garoppolo.