Steelers' Emmanuel Sanders signs offer sheet with Pats

Dang. The Steelers are going from a great WR core to almost nothing. Sucks to be them. They lost Sanders and Wallce. Is it going to be the Plaxico and Cotchery show next year? AFC North is going to be weak this year. Bengals will easily take it. Good for the Jets, as its less AFC rivals to worry about, but also bad for the Jets since Sanders is on the Pats...

 

Screw the Steelers, but I have to think they match

 

You would think they are going to match it, but they are tight against the cap.

Of course they probably know they're gonna not have him next year and a 3rd round pick is better value than letting him walk for nothing next year.

The Pats must have other ideas than WR for their first 2 picks this year, and Sanders is probably better than any WR they would pick in the 3rd round.

 

They have 5 days to match and they will. It's a one year low dollar offer.

 

Why wouldn't the Steelers match this? They know Sanders is a decent receiver and that he fits well in their system. They're probably not going to find a better option for Roethlisberger to throw too this season. They match the offer and then decide later whether they want to make Sanders a multi-year offer to keep him.

if I'm the Steelers I'm thanking the Patriots for not overloading an offer sheet that couldn't be reasonably matched. This one is very matchable.

 

I don't think we need to worry about anything this season other than laying the foundations for the future

 

Here is Adam Schefter's take. Sounds like the Steelers don't think he's worth $2.5mil because they could have had for $2mil with a 2nd round tender that would have kept everyone away.

So it really isn't a sure thing they will match.


The offer sheet that Steelers restricted free agent receiver Emmanuel Sanders signed with the Patriots is for one year and worth $2.5 million, ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter reported.

As Schefter noted earlier on Wednesday, the terms of the offer sheet aren't such that the Steelers would be "scared" to match. The Steelers, even though they are tight to the salary cap, could absorb that salary.

But the question is whether they value Sanders enough to do so.

After all, they could have tendered Sanders at the second-round level, which would have been worth $2 million, and likely kept any suitors away because of the second-round compensation. Instead, they tendered him at $1.3 million (and would receive a third-round draft choice in return if they don't match an offer).

So this is a conservative yet strategic play by the Patriots, who obviously like Sanders but not to the point of drawing up a multi-year, big-money contract.

If the salary cap-strapped Steelers didn't think Sanders was worth the second-round tender ($2 million), or the first-round tender ($2.88 million), maybe that means they won't match an offer sheet that falls between those two figures.

We'll find out the answer within five days.

 

Would be a good addition for NE imo. Not really happy bout it.

 

Makes alot of sense.....however I heard today on 98.5 Sports Hub that "ESPN" is reporting Steelers will match the offer sheet......it was a couple hours ago I heard it, they didn't specify who from ESPN reported that Pittsburgh will match though so who knows.

Sent from my LG-P999

 

Maybe the Steelers were fishing for a better 3rd round pick but won't let him go someplace where he could really hurt them in the playoffs?

 

And to think a Steelers fan just got mad at me for writing off the AFC North.

 

yeah same here. would be nice under the radar signing who can contribute in 2 phases of the game. He'd play a role, and could offer some upside. Belichick loves players like that.

Hopefully the Steelers match.

 

Ah, I didn't realize it was an offer sheet. I thought it said that he signed. So the Steelers can still match. I'm sure they will. They can't afford to lose both him and Wallace.

lol yeah, we should just give up on the year and pretend we have no chance at all. Sorry I'm a fan, rebuilding teams sometimes do quite well, and it's not like we're even fully rebuilding.

 

holy crap

totally forgot the steelers were a team

 

Steelers matched the offer - so back to the draft for the Pats

 

If I were Pitt, I think I would have taken the 3rd. I think this actually works out better for NE. The WR class in this year's draft is pretty deep and you would think that getting a good WR in the 3rd with potential to be much better than Sanders wouldn't be that hard.

 

If NE thought that they wouldn't have made the offer, right? For that matter, Pitt wouldn't have matched either if they thought it.

 

Right! Obviously neither team thought that, but that is still my opinion. I guess we will see in a couple of years who was right.