Emmanuel Sanders burst on the national stage on Thursday Night Football for the Denver Broncos in their win against the San Diego Chargers, but how close was he to signing with the rival New England Patriots?
The Denver Broncos hit a home run when they signed former Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders who is finally living up to his potential he flashed while with the Steelers, but before he signed on to catch passes from Peyton Manning he wanted to be on the receiving end of passes from Tom Brady with the New England Patriots.
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Sanders signed with the Patriots as a restricted free agent prior to the 2013 season to only see the Steelers match the offer before he hit unrestricted free agency last offseason and the Patriots came calling once again and he expressed interest in the Patriots, if he got the same type of deal Danny Amendola received when he was a free agent.
“Emmanuel loved it there,” current agent Steve Weinberg told CSN New England’s Tom Curran on Friday. “He said, ‘Give me Danny Amendola‘s deal and I’m there.'”
“New England was competitive throughout the process,” Weinberg added. “Had they been aggressive from the beginning it would have gotten done, but, in this market, nobody knew what to do with the wide receivers.”
Perhaps recognizing the error of their ways, the Patriots did not offer Sanders the five-year, $28.5 million deal Amendola received that also had $10 million worth of guaranteed money when he left the Rams, so Sanders ended up picking the Broncos three-year offer for $18 million, including $6 million in guaranteed over offers from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Kansas City Chiefs who thought they had Sanders all but locked up.
Life sure is rough when you’re torn between catching passes from Tom Brady or Peyton Manning.
Sanders had nine receptions for 120 yards and a career-high three touchdowns on Thursday vs the Chargers.
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