Emmanuel Sanders makes surprising statement on NFL future

Wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders has played 12 years in the NFL. Following this past season with the Buffalo Bills, Sanders is again due to hit free agency. But the two-time Pro Bowl receiver admitted that his future in the NFL is up in the air right now.

The Bills lost to the Chiefs in the AFC Divisional Round in this year’s playoffs. After the loss, Sanders admitted that he was “feeling it out,” and that going from team to team in recent years has taken a toll on him.

“I’ve got my son, he’s getting older,” Sanders said, via Pro Football Talk’s Josh Alper. “I’ve got a daughter getting older. And for the past three years, [I’ve] been traveling and moving from team to team, trying to win a Super Bowl. But I’ve got some reflecting I want to want to do and possibly retire. I don’t know yet. I’m just feeling it out. . . . After the [playoff loss] versus the Chiefs, you know, Josh Allen was like, `hey, let’s run it back.’ And I was like, `man, give me some time to reflect and see how I feel.’”

Sanders initially came into the NFL with the Pittsburgh Steelers after being selected 82nd overall in the third round of the 2010 NFL Draft.

Sanders has played for five different teams in his NFL career

After being drafted in 2010, Sanders spent the first four years of his NFL career in Pittsburgh. There, he totaled 2,030 yards and 11 touchdowns. Following the 2013 season, Sanders signed with the Denver Broncos. He spent the next five full seasons there, and was traded during the 2019 season. Denver traded Sanders to the San Francisco 49ers along with a fifth round pick in exchange for a third round pick and a fourth round pick.

Sanders played the 2020 season with the New Orleans Saints before being released On March 17, 2021. Two days later on March 19, Sanders signed a one-year, $6 million deal with the Buffalo Bills. Buffalo marked the fourth team Sanders has played for in the past three seasons. In Buffalo, Sanders caught 42 passes for 626 yards and four touchdowns.

In his NFL career, Sanders has played in 172 games, hauling in 704 receptions for 9,245 yards and 51 touchdowns. He won a Super Bowl with the Denver Broncos, and also appeared in Super Bowls with the Steelers and 49ers. If the Bills would have made it to this season’s Super Bowl, Sanders would have become the first player in NFL history to play in four Super Bowl with four different teams.