The Emmanuel Sanders Mystery Continues

Oct 27, 2013; Oakland, CA, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders (88) scores a touchdown on a pass from quarterback Ben Roethlisberger (7) during the fourth quarter of the game against the Oakland Raiders at O.co Coliseum. The Oakland Raiders defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers 21-18. Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports

Where is Emmanuel Sanders going to play next season? Well your guess is as a good as anybody’s.

Sanders is on his way to San Francisco to visit with his fourth team of the off-season, which on the surface wouldn’t bode well for Kansas City’s chances of signing him. However things are a little bit more complicated than that.

Before he left Kansas City his Twitter account posted this video saying good-bye to his fans in Pittsburgh.

The timing of the video would seem to suggest he has an agreement with Kansas City, or at the very least he has an agreement with someone. Since he has not met with San Francisco yet it would appear the 49ers are on the outside looking in.

Then again those assumptions could be wrong based on this report Matt Maiocco out of San Francisco.

With an estimated $3.5 million in salary-cap space, the 49ers are expected to meet on Sunday with Pittsburgh Steelers free-agent wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders.

San Francisco seems desperate to add another proven receiver next to Michael Crabtree and Anquan Boldin. After missing out of Julian Edelman, Sanders is the 49ers last shot at landing a proven receiver via free agency. This would not seem to bode well for the Chiefs.

Two things to consider here: Neither the Chiefs or the 49ers have much cap room to work with. In fact the 49ers have only $3.5 million in remaining space.  If the question is money then Kansas City will have fewer hurdles to jump to give Sanders what he is looking for.

Also, this screams “I’m going to meet with everyone and then make my decision afterwords” on Sanders part. The timing of his good-bye video would seem to indicate he’s leaving for Kansas City unless the 49ers provide a better opportunity or offer.

But that’s a lot of reading into circumstantial evidence. What does seem clear is we are going to have an answer on Sanders soon.