About a month ago, news surfaced that Mike Wallace was not pleased with the Pittsburgh Steelers one year tender offer. Word was he was prepared to sit out “until he has to” come back, whatever that means. Thus far his posturing hasn’t been a big deal because there was no football for him to miss. However, the Steelers have two full-roster OTA sessions scheduled this month and it appears Wallace will not be attendance for either.
Which is logical considering the greedy bastard still hasn’t signed his tender.
I have no idea what Wallace is thinking. Does he think the Steelers have forgotten about him? General Manager Kevin Colbert has said repeatedly he wants to keep him here for a very long time. Does he think sitting out will force the Steelers hand? I guess he’s never heard the saying it’s hard to miss you when you’re not here.
Seriously, what exactly is his play here? He has ZERO leverage. The restricted free agency period has passed so he can’t negotiate with other teams. Not that any teams were interested in his insane Larry Fitz-level asking price. He HAS to play for the Steelers this season for the $3 million they tendered him. This isn’t even up for discussion.
Wallace needs to play at least eight games in order to qualify for unrestricted free agency next season. Even if he does fulfill the obligation, the Steelers can tag him and keep him under a one year contract in perpetuity. This is how the NFL works. This is the deal his union agreed to. I can’t stand when players whine and complain and hold out when they’re tendered and/or tagged. THE NFLPA AGREED TO THESE CONDITIONS. If you don’t like it, take it up with Dee Smith and the other boneheads who run your union. You’re not Curt Flood.
So instead of signing his tender, reporting to OTAs and playing out his contractual obligations to the Steelers, he’s sitting home pouting because they aren’t giving him the long-term deal wants. Oh boo hoo. First off, the Steelers are NEVER going to give you Larry Fitz money because you’re not Larry Fitz. Larry Fitz doesn’t have zero 100 yard receiving games the entire second half of the season then catch 3 balls for 23 pathetic yards in the playoff loss to Denver. The Steelers will give Wallace a fair contract if he comes back to reality but first they have other worries like signing their first round draft pick. The Steelers are still right up against the salary cap so they may not even be able to negotiate a long-term contract extension right now.
Holding out is pretty much the worst option available. By holding out, Wallace only shows he’s self-centered pain in the ass. Putting yourself ahead of the team is only going to piss off Steeler management, who hate dealing with diva receivers as it is. If Wallace takes this to Defcon-4 by refusing to report to training camp, well, I wouldn’t blame the Steelers if they followed the path the Chargers took with Vincent Jackson last season and put him on the roster exempt list thereby suspending him for three games when he finally does sign his tender. I’m not really worried about Wallace picking up Todd Haley’s new offense because it’s not terribly complicated to run in a straight line as fast as you can.
Whatever scenario comes to pass, it’s getting harder and harder to imagine Mike Wallace will still be wearing the Black and Gold in 2013.