Elway Confirms: Emmanuel Sanders Asked Broncos to Trade Him

Emmanuel Sanders wanted out of Denver. And the Broncos obliged.

The Denver Broncos dealt disgruntled wideout Emmanuel Sanders — along with a 2020 fifth-round draft pick — to the San Francisco 49ers on Tuesday, in exchange for a 2020 third- and fourth-rounder.

The trade came five days after Sanders publicly criticize the play-calling of Broncos OC Rich Scangarello, following the team's 30-6 debacle of a loss to Kansas City. 

"Got to make the plays," Sanders said. "We've got to make the plays. We've got to call better plays, obviously, and we've got to make the plays."

Obviously, the Broncos didn't appreciate their Pro Bowl receiver publicly throwing their offensive coordinator under the bus. Sanders' criticism came five days after he mysteriously did not return to the Broncos' Week 6 home game vs. Tennessee after halftime. 

The team ruled Sanders out with a knee injury, and it was plausible, considering that he'd been on the Broncos' injury report as a limited participant in practice all week leading up to the game. But without devolving into unconfirmed rumor, there are questions as to whether Sanders took himself out of the game, refusing to play in protest of his use (or lack thereof) in the Broncos' offense. 

On Tuesday, following the Sanders trade, GM John Elway spoke with local media via conference call and admitted that something happened in that Tennessee game. It was a watershed moment of some sort, though the Broncos' front-office czar wouldn't specify what it was. Elway also admitted that Sanders directly asked for a trade. 

“Yes. He did [ask for a trade]" Elway said. "When we looked at it, Emmanuel had issues and we had issues. That is why it was a good time for us to go different directions, for Emmanuel to go in a different direction and for us to go in a different direction. With that being said, we were able to get the value that we thought was fair. That is why we decided to make the deal.”

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Whatever those "issues" were, it's water under the bridge now. At the very least, the Broncos sent a message to the locker room that selfish power plays won't be tolerated. But Elway maintains that trading Sanders away is by no means a waiving of the white flag of surrender. 

“I think the team understands the move," Elway said. "The bottom line is we’re still trying to win football games, and we’re not throwing in the towel by any means. We’re still trying to win football games. I think with the message that it sends to the rest of the team is they know what message is being sent because they’ve been around. They have a good feel of what’s going on.”

And so the Emmanuel Sanders era in Denver ends less-than-amicably. The Broncos have nine more games to play, and although Elway won't publicly admit defeat, everyone on the outside knows that the playoffs waived the team bye-bye when it got out to an 0-4 start. 

Winning two games in a row very briefly rekindled hope that the Broncos might be able to defy the odds and turn the ship around. But in the wake of their debacle of a loss to Kansas City, the reality is, the 2019 Broncos are nowhere close to being a playoff team. 

Meanwhile, Sanders was dealt to an undefeated team and a contender in the NFC, and the Broncos improved their position in the 2020 draft, while adding a third-round pick and freeing up $5.97 million in salary cap space. Everybody wins. Right?

Follow Chad on Twitter @ChadNJensen and @MileHighHuddle.