Getty WR Emmanuel Sanders had a solid season for the Buffalo Bills in 2021.
The Chicago Bears are entering the 2022 NFL season with what many analysts deem to be a sub-par wide receiving corps.
Ben Linsey of Pro Football Focus ranked Chicago’s group of wideouts dead last in the league heading into the season, and Adam Jahns of The Athletic pegged WR the most concerning position group on the team.
Darnell Mooney will be the team’s WR1, while free agent additions Byron Pringle and Equanimeous St. Brown, along with third-round pick Velus Jones, are expected to be roster locks. Beyond that, there are only question marks. Nsimba Webster, Dazz Newsome or Chris Finke could emerge, but there’s no guarantee they will.
“Receiver was a concern before free agency and the draft, and it remains one,” Jahns wrote.
Now, one top PFF reporter is urging the Bears to make one more addition at the position he thinks would “solidify” the group.
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PFF Reporter: Bears Should Sign WR Emmanuel Sanders
PFF’s Doug Kyed listed one trade or free agent acquisition all 32 teams should make “before 2022 training camp” begins. For the Bears, that’s July 23 for rookies, who report earlier, and July 26 for veterans.
Kyed thinks the Bears should reach out to former Buffalo Bills veteran wideout Emmanuel Sanders before the latter date.
“Sanders is no longer in the prime of his career at 35 years old, but he would help solidify the unit for second-year quarterback Justin Fields,” Kyed wrote on June 29.
Sanders has spent 13 years in the NFL, playing for five different teams, including the Pittsburgh Steelers and Denver Broncos, where he he helped an offense led by Peyton Manning win Super Bowl 50 after the 2015 season.
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Sanders Would Be Reasonably-Priced Addition for Bears — If He Plays
Despite his age, Sanders still has some gas left in the tank. He played in 14 games for the Bills last year, starting 13. He finished with 42 receptions for 626 yards and four touchdowns, with his 14.9 yards per catch tying his career-high (stats courtesy of Pro Football Reference).
He has also been a consistent performer in recent years. He hasn’t had fewer than 555 yards receiving in a single season since 2017, and his injury history is relatively clean. Plus, the Bears could use a veteran presence in their WR room, as Pringle is currently their oldest WR at 28.
The only problem? Sanders mentioned on GMFB in April of 2022 that he’s considering retirement. The two-time Pro Bowler has played for four different teams over the last three seasons, playing with the likes of Drew Brees in New Orleans during the 2020 season and Josh Allen in Buffalo last year. Would he consider playing with a promising young QB in Justin Fields?
Maybe, maybe not. If he does decide to play again in 2022, he should come at a reasonable price, though. Sanders inked a one-year, $6 million deal with the Bills last year, and he would likely command somewhere in the $5-6 million ballpark again, which the Bears could easily afford.
It’s unlikely the Bears’ new general manager, Ryan Poles, will make any significant splashes before the start of training camp, but signing a veteran like Sanders would be less of a splash and more of a security blanket-type of addition. We’ll see what happens, but the veteran wideout would be an intriguing addition for Fields in particular.
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