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Sanders’s cap number is slated to go up after the Steelers decided to keep him, and I have a feeling the Steelers and Sanders will come to terms on a multi-year deal. That will reduce Sanders’s cap number, and Sanders is just 26-years-old with some good upside. After all, the New England Patriots were willing to part ways with a third-round pick for Emmanuel Sanders.

Many Steelers fans wanted the team to take the Pats third-round pick and not match Sanders’s offer, because they didn’t want the Steelers to run up against the cap (they had just $2 million in cap before matching the deal yesterday) and also wanted one of the best organizations at drafting to have an added third-round pick. I see the logic that these fans presented, because it is all about the money these days. However, the Steelers were wise to match the Patriots offer for Sanders, because the Steelers situation at wide receiver would have been very uncertain without him. Mike Wallace already unsurprisingly left for the Miami Dolphins, and safe tight end Heath Miller is coming off of an ACL tear. The only returning wide receiver would have been Antonio Brown, and they would have had Jerricho Cotchery as the top in-house replacement for Sanders as a No. 3 receiver (under the presumption that the Steelers would have drafted a No. 2 guy).

Yeah, it’s no wonder why Roethlisberger publicly called for Sanders, especially after losing his second-best receiver (yes, Brown is better) in Mike Wallace. He realized that Wallace had to go, but I’m sure he didn’t want to lose two of his top three wide receivers.

Meanwhile, the Patriots will come out empty-handed when it comes to the “bottom line”, but they actually came out winners in this by offering Sanders. Even though they didn’t get the inside-outside, versatile deep threat they wanted, the Pats did hurt the Steelers cap situation. I would expect them to target WR as their top need in the draft, with CB as their No. 2 priority.

By the way, here is an awesome comment that was posted on Pro Football Talk worth reading, “A starting WR for a 3rd rounder? Sure. A starter tendered for 1 year at $2.5 mil? Sure.”

“Scream ‘spygate’ all you want, but I for one give the Patriots all the kudos in the world for being mercenary, cold-blooded SOB’s who play the game of football like it was a shooting war instead. The Jake Ballard signing comes to mind.”

Let’s just say several teams- including the Steelers- saw the Patriots move to give Sanders just one-year on the offer sheet an unsavory move, because most teams give the courtesy of offering the long-term deal to the RFA at first glance instead of having a long-term deal ready under-the-table (that’s speculating, though, that the Pats did indeed have a multi-year deal ready- which they probably did). The Steelers were forced to pay that $2.5 million up-front, but the comment above hits it home. The Patriots don’t really care what you think, what the unwritten rules say, or what other execs view as wrong. The Pats care about the bottom line, and they run their organization like a cutthroat business- I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again. They won’t make a big stink if a team does this to them as well in the future, because they realize that it’s fair game if it isn’t illegal.

You can follow Joe Soriano on Twitter @SorianoJoe.

December 23, 2012; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders (88) reacts after making pass reception for a first down against the Cincinnati Bengals during the third quarter at Heinz Field. The Cincinnati Bengals won 13-10. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

This is a bit of sad news for Patriots Nation this evening as the Steelers decided to match the offer on Emmanuel Sanders which will keep him in Pittsburgh. Lots of fans were mixed on the Patriots making a move on Sanders, but no need to worry for those naysayers as they won’t lose their third round pick anymore. Ben Roethlisberger definitely wasn’t going to be too pleased if they had lost another wide receiver this off-season. This is a solid move by the Steelers, for the moment.

With a one-year, $2.5 million deal, Sanders is scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent in March 2014.  And with the Steelers unlikely to use the franchise tag (after all, they didn’t use it to keep Mike Wallace around), Sanders will head to market barring a long-term deal, which it is unknown if that will occur at the moment. The Steelers had a little more than $1.9 million in salary-cap space this weekend, so they’re right up against the cap. They’ll have to clear room to sign their draft picks in the coming months. Safety Troy Polamalu’s contract might be restructured to help make that happen. If Sanders makes it to the open market, the Patriots likely will be given the first crack at signing him, due to he fact that the Pats helped him get a $1.2 million raise for 2013.  The Steelers, in turn, will have nothing if Sanders leaves.

Had the Patriots, possibly put a little more money into the offer, maybe the Steelers would have backed off due to money issues which is why a lot of people thought they wouldn’t match the Patriots offer. The Patriots have a franchise low five draft picks and will be forced to draft a wide receiver in the early rounds and may also be forced to possibly bring back Brandon Lloyd, now that Sanders is removed from the equation.

Jason Bridge-USA TODAY Sports

According to ESPN’s John Clayton, the Pittsburgh Steelers organization as a whole is about “50-50″ on whether or not they should match the Patriots offer for Emmanuel Sanders and keep the versatile SMU product. Some in the Steelers front office believe that the team should just take the pick and run with it, while others believe that it is best for the team to keep Sanders.

The Steelers lost Mike Wallace this offseason and have Heath Miller coming off of an ACL tear, but the Steelers are the best organization in the NFL at drafting young talent- particularly at the wide receiver position. A player like Stedman Bailey or Aaron Dobson could develop into the next solid Steelers receiver, so Pittsburgh fans are high on that.

The issue here is that Sanders himself was worth a third-round pick, as the Steelers couldn’t afford to give him a higher tender. Sanders has the ability to stretch the field, play in both the slot and outside, and he is a talented wide receiver in his own right given his early production. I don’t view him as an injury-prone player, because he did play in 15 games last season and has averaged 13 games per season through his three NFL seasons. I know he isn’t the most “healthy” player as far as injuries go, but Sanders is far from some injury machine.

It’s going to be a tough call for the Steelers, and the toughest call seems to be whether or not it’s worth going up against the cap by keeping Sanders and losing out on a third-round pick. Drafting a WR in the third round is cheaper than keeping Sanders; there’s no doubt about that. But Sanders is most likely better than a player the Steelers would draft in the third-round. If I were the Steelers front office, I would make the move to keep Sanders. Losing out on the cap space is going to hurt, but the Steelers wide receiver corps would not be in good shape after losing both Wallace and Sanders. Just keep that in mind.

You can follow Joe Soriano on Twitter @SorianoJoe.