Welcome back Mike. Like it or not.
Steelers speedster Mike Wallace was hoping for the pay day of his life this offseason, instead he will come back to the Steelers and play for about $2.7 million once he smartens up and inks his tender from the team.
Wallace will stay with the Steelers after a Friday midnight deadline passed with no team offering the restricted free agent an offer sheet.
The Steelers did not make Wallace their franchise player, which would have required them to pay him about $9.5 million for the upcoming season. Instead, they gave him a first-round tender, which meant a team would have had to give up a first-round draft pick to sign him.
Last season Wallace had team highs of 72 catches, 1,193 yards and eight touchdowns. He looks to want to fight inking his tender, as he hasn’t signed it, and hasn’t reported to offseason workouts.
The WR has until June 15 to do so before the Steelers can cut the tender to $577,500. Steelers president Art Rooney II previously said the team wants to sign Wallace to a long-term contract.
That’s a longshot, but after Wallace got no offers, he may see that the grass is going to be greener with the Steelers, and hopefully the two sides can agree on a deal.
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DrGeorge
April 22, 2012 at 4:49 pm
Wallace is gaming the rules. He will delay signing, probably beyond June 15th, to salve his wounded pride: by demonstrating that the Steelers want him so badly they won’t cut the tender. Wallace’s gambit has been about ego from the start, and that’s not a good sign. If Wallace is going to play in 2012 as he did the last half of 2011, management should consider very carefully whether his considerable talents are worth his equally considerable detriment to team unity and morale. No team wants or needs a multi-million dollar malcontent.
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shanepgh
April 27, 2012 at 11:16 pm
I was always a huge fan of Wallace until recently, every one knows he’s a one trick pony but he’s a hell of a good one. He’s not the type of receiver that is feared all over the field, he’s only feared as a deep threat and even at that he needs some work. It seems like he has to stop and turn to catch passes where some of the top receivers can catch the ball over there head and keep going. And now that he showed every one his attitude and what he’s really about I was actually hoping that sum 1 gave us a first round pick for him. He’s your typical cocky receiver like T.O. and chad watshisname and he will probably end up like they did if he dosnt get his Shit together, the smart thing he should do is sign the 2.7 million doller tender play his ass off, show he can be a more versitile receiver and then get the big pay day next year if not by the STEELERS then by another team. But if he does chose to sit out I guarantee it affects his contract next year big time.