Not necessarily. Sanders runs a deeper route tree than Cooks (I really like Cooks, I’m just stating facts) and may very well have better hands. I’m not discrediting Cooks at all, but Sanders is a very polished WR. I don’t think we really need him, but I wouldn’t mind if we signed him. He’s a NE receiver all the way. Nice fit in our offense. One caveat is that Sanders is much older and coming off of an injury. Lastly, look at the QBs that they each played with the last 3 seasons.
Sanders: Assweiler/Seimian/Old Fart Manning
Cooks: GOAT/ Brees
.....Nuff’ said.
If the Pats had been able to snag Sanders with their RFA tender offer way back in 2013 - when Sanders was 26 and just entering his prime years - that would've been something. Regardless of the QBs he's had throwing to him in Denver, he's still turning 31 on March 16th and closer to the end of his career than to his prime.
His salaries for 2018 and 2019 are $8.15M and $10.15M, respectively. So, trading for him is pretty much out of the question, cap-wise. If the Broncos cut him, that's a somewhat different story, but my guess is that his market is still fairly strong and the Pats would likely be outbid.
Statistically:
SANDERS, 8 seasons .. 115 games + 8 playoffs
... 58.9% catch rate .. 13.3 YPC .. 53.5 yds/GM .. 33 TDs
... 14 rushes/106 yards .. 783 scrimmage yds/season
In 2017 (12 games):
... 51.1% catch rate .. 11.8 YPC .. 46.3/GM . 2 TDs
COOKS, 4 seasons .. 58 games + 3 playoffs
... 65.2% catch rate .. 14.1 YPC .. 68.0 yds/GM .. 28 TDs
... 30 rushes/161 yds .. 1,026 scrimmage yds/season
In 2017 (16 games):
... 57.0% catch rate .. 16.6 YPC .. 67.6 yds/GM .. 7 TDs
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SANDERS in PIT (4 seasons, 56 games):
... 57.3% catch rate .. 12.6 YPC .. 11 TDs
... 2059 yds/scrimmage
SANDERS in DEN (4 seasons, 59 games):
... 60.0% catch rate .. 13.6 YPC .. 22 TDs
... 4203 yds/scrimmage
It appears that Sanders actually performed better with "crappy QBs" in Denver than he did with Roethlisberger in PIT.
