Last night the Pittsburgh Steelers decided to match the contract offered to Emmanuel Sanders by the New England Patriots, a move which was only mildly surprising. A cap crunched team could have easily taken the third-round pick handed over by the Patriots as part of Sanders’ original-round tender, and then used that to address their need two weeks from now while picking from a deep class at the position, and paying a much cheaper price.
The argument for familiarity was evidently much more compelling, though, with general manager Kevin Colbert opting for a tried and tested option to replace part of Mike Wallace’s production and line up across from Antonio Brown. Fair enough, I guess. Now they’re paying $2.5 million for one year of a player who may not provide significant value long-term beyond the equivalent player in the third round.
But what’s interesting about the finality of the great Emmanuel Sanders decision of 2013 is that it involved more than just the Steelers and Patriots.
