I’ve had some good discussions as I’m sure many of you have about Emmanuel Sanders signing the offer sheet from the New England Patriots and whether or not the Steelers should match. I’ve also seen some comments that were rather derogatory towards Sanders regarding him “going after the money.”
Let me get this straight. None of you would take a significant increase in pay and an opportunity to work with another future hall of fame quarterback and future hall of fame coach? Don’t give me the loyalty crap either because loyalty is gone in professional sports.
I don’t begrudge Sanders one bit for signing the offer sheet.
Look at the two situations he is facing from an offensive perspective. In Pittsburgh, it is becoming more and more clear that Todd Haley was brought in to re-establish the running game. This means less opportunities for receivers which means less of an opportunity for Sanders to have a big year heading into unrestricted free agency in 2014.
His other option is to go to New England where he will play in a pass-first offense which will clearly get him more opportunities to increase his overall value when free agency comes around. Should he stay with Pittsburgh or go to New England I’ll be very curious if he signs a long-term extension perhaps thinking he could get more on the open market next spring.
Regardless of where he ends up we have no business ripping a player for choosing money and opportunity over what? Stability maybe? The career of professional football is a short one and without guaranteed contracts, I have no problem with players seeking out greater financial reward.
That doesn’t mean I like it, but there is nothing we or they for that matter can do about it.
Marc Uhlmann writes for and co-owns www.steelcityblitz.com. Follow him on Twitter @steeldad and follow the website at @SCBlitz. He can be heard Mondays on Trib-Live Radio at 4pm ET talking Steelers.
6 comments
HERE HERE!! You tell ’em!! If you got nothing nice to say, STFU!
Thanks for reading Chick! I didn’t put it quite as directly as you have but the point remains. LoL
I’m not blaming him for wanting more money, By all means if you can get it, get it. But I think we can all agree that his play was very poor last season and we can use that draft pick to get a productive WR
. Plex will draw a lot of defensive pressure and with Miller being out, we are going to need someone who A.) wants to be productive and B.) will hold on to the ball. Sorry but one TD for all of last season and a bunch of dropped balls is not going to cut it. Thanks for the pick New England( hopefully). WR’s are key to our title runs, Bradshaw had Swann(H. O. F.),Stallworth (H. O. F.) Ben had Ward( future H. O. F.) Both Randel El, and Wallace have Hall Of Fame potential and we need someone who’s willing to step-up and be the premier WR for the team. And that folks is not a dream but reality!!!
LOL @ Randel El having hall of fame potential..
i’d be the last one to chastize him for going for more money but how much more money are we talking about here. difference is 1.2 mil GROSS. after taking into acct. the agents comm.,federal income tax,and don’t forget he’s going to taxachsettes. this THE first socialist state of the u.s., just ask commrade rooney. With the diff in state and local tax and a big one cost of living, How much is he really leaving for??
I have no problem with Sanders signing an offer sheet. Kevin Colbert said for them to test the market and findout their value. Sanders did with a team I truly feel wanted to draft him in 2010 and so The Steelers matched the offer.
I think this is a good opportunity to extend Ben and cut some of his base salary back to a more reasonable number.
The pressure is on Ben to follow Hayles script and to get Sanders the ball. Goodluck
I wonder if Sanders is going to have an issue with Brown’s comments, stay tuned.