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

The Steelers have five days to match, but amount of contract isn't expected to "scare" the Steelers.

Jared Wickerham

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

[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.

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.

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.