John Clayton of ESPN reported Friday on Twitter that the Pittsburgh Steelers are 50/50 as to whether or not to match the one-year, $2.5 million offer sheet that restricted free agent wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders signed with the New England Patriots.
This is not surprising news as even the fanbase seems to be split with their opinions on this topic as well.
As I pointed out on Thursday, the Steelers will be hard pressed to get an extension done with Sanders by the start of the 2013 season should they indeed decide to match the offer sheet. It\’s not impossible, however. This very well could play heavily into their decision to match or not.
As Clayton points out, some in the organization want the player, while others want the third round draft pick that the team would receive as compensation.
Clayton also goes on to point out quite obviously that wide receiver Jerricho Cotchery would be the most likely candidate to take over the Sanders\’ starting spot in the offense initially. The Steelers also have veteran wide receiver Plaxico Burress under contract for 2013, but he did not see the field much after being signed to the roster in the second half of the 2012 season.
The Steelers have until Sunday evening to make their decision.
David Todd and I dedicated a whole episode of The Terrible Podcast on Thursday to the Sanders situation and we invite you to listen to it if you haven\’t already.
