Just before the clock struck midnight, the Pittsburgh Steelers decided to match the New England Patriots' offer to Emmanuel Sanders. The Steelers just narrowly escaped losing another free agent receiver to a team in the AFC East. The Miami Dolphins signed free agent speedster Mike Wallace away from the Steelers at the start of the free agency period. The loss of Sanders would have forced the Steelers to turn toward the draft to find another receiver.
The Steelers matched the single-year, $2.5 million offer for the restricted free-agent Pittsburg wide out. The Steelers hold on to Sanders instead of taking the Patriots' third-round pick as compensation for losing the restricted free agent. The Patriots offered Sanders nearly double his 2012 salary. The budget minded Steelers were reluctant to over pay for Sanders’ services, but in the end, the Steelers made the choice to over pay Sanders rather than enter the up coming NFL season with a seriously depleted receiving corp. With the loss of Wallace to the Dolphins in free agency, the move made Sanders’ value rise in the eyes of the Steelers.
Pittsburg did not have much cap room left though, with less than $2 million in cap space. They will need to clear out some more cap space sometime soon in order to sign the rookies after this year’s draft. One or more of the players on the Steelers team may have to restructure their existing contract.
The Patriots wanted to add another receiver to their rebuild corps of wide outs. Sanders would have joined the likes of Danny Amendola, Mike Jenkins and Donald Jones to complete this year’s batch of New England receivers.
The Patriots may now turn to the draft to fill the void Sanders would have filled. They can now put that third-round pick to good use. The Patriots have never had so few draft pick; they will enter the draft will only five.
New England has dominated the division for over a decade, but they are starting to sense the Dolphins closing the gap. The Patriots made a bold move offering a third-round pick for Sanders, in a year with so few draft picks at their disposal. The move was a calculated decision by Bill Belichick. Sanders would have come in and likely been a week one contributor for New England. A week one contributing rookie receiver is extremely difficult to find.
New England rolled the dice and lost, but the move was smart. Sanders is a proven young receiver in the NFL and a third-round draft pick is a small price to pay for a piece of what the Patriots hope is a championship puzzle. Belichick is a gambler with a proven track record. He felt that a mid-round draft pick was equal to or less than the value Sanders would have brought to the team. The move was just another in the long list of smart decisions Belichick has made during his tenure as the Patriots coach.