Sanders, a restricted free agent, visited Gillette Stadium yesterday and signed the Patriots' offer sheet, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The terms aren't known.
Here is what that now means.
1. The Steelers can match the contract offer and retain Sanders. The problem here is the Steelers are thin on cap room.
2. The Steelers can let Sanders sign with the Patriots and receive the Pats' 2013 third-round pick as compensation. The Steelers assigned Sanders a low-round tender, which means a new team would have to surrender the player's original draft round as compensation, and Sanders was a third-round pick in 2010. This would leave the Pats with picks in the first and second round, plus two in the seventh round.
3. The Pats and Steelers could negotiate a trade, as the Pats did with Wes Welker and the Dolphins in 2007.