Sanders: Coming to Saints ‘a receiver’s dream’

New Saints wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders thought he might shuffle off to Buffalo, or head to the frozen tundra in Green Bay, or possibly even return to the San Francisco 49ers.

Appearing on The Rich Eisen Show Monday, Sanders said he had conversations with each of those teams before agreeing on a two-year deal with the Saints.

“I spoke with the Bills for a little bit,” Sanders said. “I said give me a night, and 30 minutes later, the Stefon Diggs deal went through.

“I kind of waited (after that). I was talking to Green Bay, to the Niners, and then the Saints called. I was ecstatic about them calling,” he said, noting that New Orleans will play 12 of 16 games in domed stadiums this year, unlike his other suitors.

“The numbers made sense. Drew (Brees) has two more years on his deal and I signed a two-year deal. I’m just excited to be a New Orleans Saint.

“This is my 11th season. You want something that gives you that burning fire.”

Sanders is excited about not just catching passes from Brees – who was the first person to text Sanders after he agreed to come to New Orleans – but he also looks forward to lining up at receiver with NFL record holder Michael Thomas.

“To play alongside a guy like that definitely takes pressure off me,” said Sanders, who hasn’t reached out to Thomas yet. “It should also take pressure off him.”

Sanders’ “conversations” with Saints coach Sean Payton during the process were only text messages.

“He told me to go and look at the film, what they’ve been doing the last 12 years,” Sanders said. “He told me ‘you’ll love it here.’ I know what that system produces. I’m a fan of pass-happy offenses, that chunk it left and right. That’s … a receiver’s dream.”

As for dealing with the confinement of coronavirus, Sanders has not signed his deal yet because he has not completed a physical. He has another reason to take COVID-19 very seriously.

“My son has a respiratory problem, so I took him out of school a week earlier,” he said.