Emmanuel Sanders will be playing with the Pittsburgh Steelers this season, but his future gets hazy after that. Despite the fact the Steelers paid a high price to keep him, it’s looking like it might be a bad investment as according to the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, Sanders reportedly had “several” teams make him offers during free agency before signing an offer sheet from the New England Patriots.
“We had several teams make offers in free agency so we know there are teams who really like Emmanuel,” Jordan Woy, Sanders’ agent said, via the post Gazette.
Sanders apparently is content with playing out this season under a one year contract and then testing free agent next season. If Sanders burns the Steelers, it wouldn’t be the first time a receiver rejected a long term deal to sign elsewhere, as the very reason Sanders is the new No. 1 receiver is the fact that Mike Wallace left for Miami after rejected a deal in similar circumstances to Sanders.
Sanders came into his own last season but he’s now the No. 1 receiver in Pittsburgh meaning he’ll have plenty of chances to shine and prove his worth. If teams were really willing to pay Sanders this offseason, he’s in a position get paid even more next offseason.
Of course, Sanders runs the risk of becoming another case of a guy who was in line to get a big deal and misses out on it due to either an injury or a poor performance. Still, Sanders and the Steelers are on the same page about putting a winning performance on the field in 2013, and that’s good news for Sanders and his agent.
The Steelers are open to signing Sanders long term, but they’re in no rush to do so due to the low cap figure on Sanders. Pittsburgh is unable to lower the $2.5 million salary they owe the receiver in 2013, so the sense of urgency isn’t present. Still, the Steelers are strapped for cash and were before matching the offer on Sanders. So logic would suggest if they’re going to go $2.5 million into, they’ll go deeper with a fatter long term deal.
The only question is will Sanders take the deal or leave the Steelers hanging next offseason?