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Mike Wallace

Mike Wallace Wants Matrix Money

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By Hennessy

The San Francisco 49ers were the first team to express interest in Pittsburgh Steelers superstar Mike Wallace. Given their combination of a late first round draft pick and need for a playmaking wide receiver, the Niners were a logical suitor for his services. Rumor has it no offer was made because Wallace’s agent is telling teams that his client wants a Larry Fitzgerald level deal to lock him up past the 2012 season. In other words, Wallace thinks he’s worth a contract in excess of $15 million a year.

Is he out of his friggin’ mind? He’s been gulping down Blue Pills if he thinks he’s in the same league as LarryFitz.

By tendering the third leg of Young Money a $2.7million offer, Pittsburgh was saying “we are willing to lose a proven superstar, but not without getting something big in return.” That something being a first round draft pick, which any team signing Wallace would have to surrender to the Steelers. Even at that steep price, the Niners, Patriots, Bengals and perhaps even the Ravens were possible suitors. All those teams have late first rounders (or, in the case of Cincy and New England, two firsts) and a need for a big play wideout. However, none of them are going to make a play for Wallace unless they’re assured of signing him to a multi-year contract first.

At $8 million per season, all those teams can afford to go after Wallace. $9-10 per and NE and Baltimore likely drop out due to cap issues. When you hit $15 million per, that’s even too expensive for the Niners to afford. If Wallace truly expects LarryFitz money, the only team that could fit him under their cap are the cheapskate Bengals and their $38 million cap surplus. While it would be a strategic play to weaken the armor of their long-standing conference juggernaut, I don’t see the Cats making that move.
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Steelers Fiddle While NFL Burns…

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…through all their money.

Sometimes I wonder what it’d be like to be a fan of another team. Does anybody else do that? Not often but every once in awhile, I’ll sit there in my Roethlisberger jersey after the Pittsburgh Steelers clinch yet another playoff spot or suffer a heartbreaking loss and wonder what it must feel like for rabid fans of other teams. Can you imagine what a Clevelander must think when they wake on game day only to be greeted by Brady Quinn’s #10 hanging in their closet? Or what a Lions fan must feel now that their team is a legitimate playoff contender when their last playoff appearance featured a fella by the name of Chaz Batch playing quarterback for them?

I guess I’m in a reflective mood because frankly that’s all there is for Steeler fans to do during the first month or so of free agency. For the past week, the fans of other teams probably spent half their workday on their computer or smartphone obsessively refreshing the ProFootballTalk website for the latest free agent news. I can picture ‘Skins fans doing their best impression of the Micro Machines guy; “Vincent Jackson…Vincent Jackson….C’mon Vincent…D’OH…Pierre Garcon?…C’mon Pierre Garcon…Pierre…YEAH!”

For about 30 teams, this is the time of year when your team goes out and spends a bunch of money in an effort to become a contender. This is the time of year when you start thinking your front office and ownership truly want to win and are doing all the right things to ensure you’re still playing in January. For Steeler fans, this is the time of year we become Penguin fans. Anybody hear about this Sidney Crosby character coming back tonight or something?
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Steelers Benefit From Salary Cap Incomptence

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An already crazy NFL off-season is about to get even crazier. When the clock strikes four this afternoon, the league’s 2012 free agency period officially begins. There really wasn’t much free agent activity last year due to the lock-out and teams being reluctant to bring in new faces who wouldn’t have the benefit of an entire off-season to learn a new playbook. Prepare for free agency to return with a vengeance.

Speaking of which, the Pittsburgh Steelers got an itty bit of salary cap relief thanks to of all people Commissioner Roger Goodell. Over the weekend, the salary cap was set at $120 million, a negligible increase over last year’s cap. Considering the lock-out was fought over the players wanting 53% of the revenue while the owners tried shrink their share to 47%, it’s pretty clear who won last year’s showdown. Good job bending over for the league, Dee Smith.

Anyway, the league announced two teams, the Dallas Cowboys and Washington Redskins were being docked cap space for front loading contracts during the uncapped year. In other words, the Ginger Dictator is penalizing those teams ($10 and $31 million respectively) for violating the salary cap in a year in which no cap existed. And I thought suspending players for playing football set a new bar for insane rulings. Gotta love that monomaniacal douchebag.
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Clock Ticking On Mike Wallace

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Tick-Tock. Tick-Tock.

Sorry for opening with such a corny line but in this case it’s particularly apt. The Pittsburgh Steelers followed through on their vow not to use their Franchise tag on All Pro receiver Mike Wallace. Instead they tendered him an offer, making him a restricted free agent. What this means is one of three things will happen when the NFL’s free agency period kicks off at 4:00 ET next Tuesday.

Wallace may sign the one year offer for $2.75 million. Or another team may offer him a bigger contract, which the Steelers have an option to match. If they decide to match, the Steelers keep Wallace and the other team is S.O.L. If the Steelers decline to match, Wallace goes to that team with Pittsburgh receiving their first round draft pick as compensation.

Wallace isn’t going to sign that tender until free agency is over. He no doubt feels he’s worth more than what the Steelers have offered and he’s right. To give you a rough idea where the bar is for a young up-and-coming wide receiver, let’s look at the Buffalo Bills. They recently re-signed Stevie Johnson to a five year $36 million deal. NFL fans know Johnson as the dude who writes silly messages on his undershirt with a sharpie. Steeler Nation remembers him as the putz who dropped the game-winning touchdown pass in overtime, then blamed God for his butterfingers. In either case, you’d be hard-pressed to find someone who doesn’t view Wallace as the far better receiver.
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