I declined it for the stated reason. I'm not counting the 2257 link. If I'm the only one who rejected you for that, consider yourself lucky because it means that other reviewers missed it.
Almost everyone counts all links (other than 2257) no matter if they're a link to a sponsor, to your hub, or to gramma's house. I've never heard of any list a that allows 3 links to sponsor but doesn't count other links out.