Report: Emmanuel Sanders signed 1-year offer sheet from New England

Update: Adam Schefter tweeted that the offer sheet is actually worth $2.5 million total.

The offer sheet that Steelers RFA Emmanuel Sanders signed is worth $2.5 million. Steelers choice: match or get NE's third-round pick by Sun.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 10, 2013

[Original story]

The New England Patriots have signed Steelers restricted free agent wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders to a one-year offer sheet, multiple sources, including ESPN's Adam Schefter, are reporting Wednesday.

According to Schefter, the amount of that one-year contract "shouldn't scare the Steelers," meaning it could be reasonable enough for the Steelers to match, and the Boston Globe's Greg Bedard believes it is in the range of $4 million.

Expect Sanders sheet to be in $4-million range. Steelers could easily match it, so we'll see their evaluation of their player

— Greg A. Bedard (@GregABedard) April 10, 2013

If they choose not to match it within the next five days, the Steelers will receive the Patriots third-round pick (91st overall). And then they'll be left with just one receiver with playing experience and under the age of 31.

Timeline: Sanders to Patriots

How the story has developed since Sanders first met with New England on March 15

Sanders was given an original round tender offer in free agency, worth $1.33 million. The Steelers have a little more than $2 million in cap room available, and the yes-or-no decision could simply be made based on the finances available.

They offered Sanders an original round tender, instead of a first-round tender (what they gave Mike Wallace last season when he was a restricted free agent) for a reason. If they wanted to pay Sanders more, they probably would have.

Stay tuned to BTSC for more on this story.