Steelers match Patriots’ offer for restricted free agent Emmanuel Sanders

Sanders is entering his fourth season in the NFL, and caught 44 passes for 626 yards and a touchdown in 2012, career highs in terms of receptions and yardage.

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The Patriots attempted to sign Sanders away from Pittsburgh, giving him an offer worth $2.5 million for one year. If the Steelers let Sanders go, they would have received the 91st pick in the NFL Draft as compensation from New England. This move ensures that Sanders will stay in Pittsburgh for at least one more season. They had until 11:59 p.m. ET Sunday night to match the Patriots’ offer, and ended up beating the deadline by several hours.

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Sanders is coming off the best season of his career; the three-year veteran caught 44 passes for 626 yards and a touchdown in 2012. He started seven games for Pittsburgh and appeared in all 16 regular-season contests, both of which were career highs. Over the course of his professional career, he has racked up 1,290 receiving yards.

The offer sheet from New England is for just one year, though it could lead to a long-term agreement with the Patriots should the Steelers decide to move on without him. Pittsburgh had given Sanders an original-round tender worth about $1.3 million prior to the offer sheet he received from New England.

Sanders was the Steelers’ third-round pick out of Southern Methodist in the 2010 NFL Draft and over the last three seasons has caught 94 passes for 1,290 yards and five touchdowns. His best season was in 2012 when Sanders had 626 yards receiving and a touchdown.

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