[The Franchise]

A person with knowledge of the situation told The Star that ex-Steelers receiver Emmanuel Sanders arrived in Kansas City around 1 p.m. and will spend the night here before leaving for San Francisco on Saturday to visit the 49ers. The news of Sanders’ San Francisco visit was first reported by several national writers, including Ian Rapoport of NFL.com and the Aaron Wilson of the National Football Post.

What it means: Sanders has already visited Jacksonville and Tampa Bay and has another visit set up Saturday, but the Chiefs have a chance to keep him from leaving if they come correct with an offer. From what I’ve been told from multiple places, the Chiefs have been pretty frugal with their offers thus far, but there is a market for Sanders so if they’re bringing him in for a visit, they must at least be in the ballpark with the numbers.

Keep an eye on this situation, folks. Teams don’t bring guys in unless they’re serious, and it would be wise for the Chiefs to ante up with an offer that allows them to bring in an experienced No. 2 receiver without spending a first-round draft pick on one. He caught 67 passes for 740 yards and six touchdowns last season, which isn’t that far off from the numbers Golden Tate put up (64 catches for 898 yards and five touchdowns) last year in Seattle.

Tate, 25, proceeded to receive a five-year deal from Detroit reportedly worth $31 million, including $13 million guaranteed. Sanders, who turns 27 in a few days, probably won’t get that but maybe he’ll get something in the vicinity. The Chiefs don’t have a ton of cap space this year but remember, NFL teams can fit almost anyone under the cap for the first year by giving the player a low base salary and a high signing bonus.

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