Wallace not going anywhere: possible franchise tag

Is it possible to sign him this year so we don't have to franchise him at a higher rate next year and then trade him next year for the first rounder. Then we could send him to some team that most likely won't hurt us like the Rams.

Could they have signed him with our cap last year knowing this was going to happen? I think we were against the ceiling last year also.

 

Wallace reminds me a lot of a former Chicago Bears speedster, Willie Gault. Remember him? People always talked about his great speed ad his tremendous "upside". The "upside" really never fully developed. I fear that we've seen the best of FMW (Fast Mike Wallace) at this point based on his significant regression in the second half of last year.

 

Probably not, because Wallace would rather have the choice of the team he could go to and the contract he would sign, instead of signing a 1 year deal with us and getting traded. He will want a long term deal.

The only team that i really worry about him going to is the Patriots, which is probably the most logical team though. The need a WR that will take the top off of the defense. Our only hope with them is that they decide to sign a different free agent instead so they dont lose the pick. The reality is they will get a good WR and we just have to deal with it and improve our team and beat them, which can be done (even with a good WR).

i'd like the bengals to take a shot at him. I'll take #21 and #24 picks. That would be nice.

 

How Would Mike Wallace’s Departure Impact the Offense?

 

The last thing i want is the bengals to get him. Wallace and green would be a nightmare to cover

 

Mike Brown is notoriously cheap so hopefully, that will work in our favor.

 

Yeah but the 89% rule goes into effect this year

 

I think that is exactly what we will see happen.....I had no ideal that the Bengals where 60 Mil under the cap.....They have the extra pick and as ESPN explains how they could offer Wallace a 20 Million signing bonus.....I don't think he is worth 10 mil for one season we wouldn't be able to give him a big contract next year either.....

I am going on record now Wallace is going to the Bengals.....

 

I'm actually perfectly fine with that. Wallace will always have big numbers because he catches so many deep balls, but when you desperately need that one big play to win the game, I have absolutely no faith in Wallace to make that play. He can't catch the ball in traffic and unless he gets behind the DB's, he is ineffective on anything other than slants. Wallace just doesn't scare me

 

I agree I was just getting it out there so the Wallace fans can brace themselves....I think we hit on all 3 of the WR'S and IMO Brown and Sanders are best of the 3......With the cap problems and other holes on the Team now is the time to get a return on investment...

 

the wallace debate is certainly a fair one.

if we don't franchise him, we risk losing him. it's that simple. due to our salary cap situation, we simply can't compete with him in an open market. further, in addition to weakening our receiving corps, we may help to strengthen the roster of our biggest rivals. teams like new england and baltimore would probably be the biggest players in the 'wallace sweepstakes' and would only have to part with a 29th or 31st pick.

the argument could also be made that it would also weaken our team to lose wallace. as it has been pointed out, wallace's vertical speed opens up the field and creates an abundance of opportunities for the underneath routes ran by brown and sanders.

on the flip side, how valuable is mike wallace? the fact is, we have severe cap issuses and are being hit with the daunting task of replacing a lot of aging superstar veterans with youth. the 'daunting' part of it falls under the fact that it seems to all be happening at about the same time (and particularly on defense) with guys like aaron smith and chris hoke being gone, hampton and farrior in a major decline, and polamalu seemingly playing below his hof-caliber level this past season. and, to make matters worse, the jury is still WAY out on whether our recent #1 d-line picks are going to be able to fill the voids created by the departure (and decline) of our aging vets.

so, is mike wallace worth $9million? some argued that his play dropped off dramatically last season. let's take a look inside the numbers. pre-bye week (first 10 games), mike wallace averaged 5.3 receptions, 92.2yrds, and 1.7td's per game. in the 7 games after the bye (denver playoff game included) he averaged 3.1 receptions, 42.4yrds, and 0.3td's per game. do we want to pay a guy $9mill who is averaging nearly 100yrds and 2td's per game? hell to the yeah. what about a guy who is averaging 3 catches for 42 yards a game and who scores a td about once a month? um, no.

and how does he perform on the biggest stage? how about 3 catches for 26yrds, 0 receiving td's, and one enormous drop in denver? the year before: his combined numbers in the baltimore and nyjets playoff games was 4 catches for 26 yards. that's both games COMBINED. that's 7 catches for 52yrds and 0 td's in 3 playoff games!!

his numbers in the super bowl, however, were certainly respectable: 9 catches for 89yrds and 1td.

but that brings up another interesting note: he puts up his biggest numbers in games that we lose. in games that he has caught seven or more passes in the past two seasons, we are 2-4 (no wonder Art II wants to run the ball).

so, a weak second-half of the '11 regular season, an absolute 'egg' dropped in denver, 3 out of 4 disappearing acts in the playoffs the past two seasons, but an extraordinary first hall of '11, a nice super bowl the year before, tremendous speed, youth, upside . . .

it'll be interesting to see how this team, who just had its owner stomp his foot down and scream, "run the damn ball!", is going to approach a deep threat wide receiver who is holding onto a lottery ticket.

 

Look who may be interested:

http://espn.go.com/blog/afcnorth/post/_ ... ue-wallace

 

This is an excellent and thought-provoking post!

 

Think 3 years ago in Pittsburgh against Greenbay, last play of the game...

 

I don't want to pay a guy $10 million per year to make a game winning catch every 3 years, and disappear for half a season, including the playoffs.

 

I don't want to pay a guy $10 million per year to make a game winning catch every 3 years, and disappear for half a season, including the playoffs.[/quote:ba8xkwo9]

he was merely responding to your one point (note the red type) and he absolutely smashed it.

but, yeah, nobody wants to overpay wallace. let's hope it works out.

 

I don't want to pay a guy $10 million per year to make a game winning catch every 3 years, and disappear for half a season, including the playoffs.[/quote:bjz9bvnz]

he was merely responding to your one point (note the red type) and he absolutely smashed it.

but, yeah, nobody wants to overpay wallace. let's hope it works out.[/quote:bjz9bvnz]

My point was that I have no faith in him to make that play, not that he will never make it. Any WR can make the odd big play, but the top ones do it on a regular basis. You can't smash my point when my point is about my confidence in a player.

 

If we can grab floyd with a number 1 i would be happy. This offense is missing that big guy who can go up and get the ball.

 

It seems the big gripe against Wallace is the second half of last season and its a valid one. But, lets keep in mind the Steelers had an injured/backup QB the last 4 weeks of the reg season. In those 4 games the Steelers scored over 14 points once(27-0 vs the Rams). Only 2 TDs came from the passing game in the last 4 reg season games. In the playoff game vs Denver, the Steelers scored 1 TD from the passing game. Wallace did have a TD in the Denver game listed as a rushing TD.

 

yeah, i didn't bring up the wallace one-yard td run because it is emphatically irrelevant to whether or not we sign him long-term. we're not making our decision based on his ability as a short-yardage runner.

let's take a look at his body of work from the year before (2010). do we realize he only got 60 balls in '10 (while deeming him an elite receiver)? that's 3.75 receptions per game. that's not a lot. he averaged 78.6ypg. that means his ypc was probably pretty strong in comparison to other wr's around the league. 0.6td's per game. that's actually not bad. 10 receiving td's on a season is pretty strong (but weren't at least two of those hail mary-type throws from batch at tampa? - the kind of catch where he had to "go up and make the play" that others don't think he can make?).

i'm just throwing numbers out there. is he a good receiver? yes. very good? yes. $9mill a year great? hmm . . .

 

i remember that Tampa game, and I specifically remember the one catch. He didn't go up and get it, in fact, I remember him letting the DB go up to get the ball. It should have been an easy pick, but the DB let it go through his hands and Wallace caught it.

 

whats funny is that if ben doesn't under throw him 50 f'ing times this year this conversation doesn't happen. ya he doesn't always fight for the ball, so what? if ben could actually hit him in stride or hell just get it somewhere near him he has 4-5 tds more and about 300-400 more yards and we wouldn't be talking about fighting for the ball. I'm not saying wallace is best wr or even that he doesn't need to work on things but the way u guys under value him is ridiculous. what you think wallace played lights out for 2 years and just forgot how to play football? no, teams adapt and figure it out and even after all that he still was burning secondaries only to be let down with some flimsy ass throw from ben that drops 10 yes behind him. brown imo is better overall but if u think that has nothing to do with wallace your just simple. i get he has some bad habits but catching a football and running routes (something he does ok as of now, not terrible) is a lot more teachable than being the fastest person on the field. i want to keep him but personally if the steelers let him i trust it. i just think its funny how this board goes through cycles with its love hate affairs. but i guess if we didn't argue there'd be no point.

 

Wallace is a goner! The FO went for it this year, and failed to reach the SB wich caused the piggy bank to bust. We are left to pick up the pieces, and that is what you see now. Over the next ten days watch the cuts roll just to get under the cap limit. If you dont think a team that has a pick outside of 15 wouldnt trade it for Wallace you are nuts. I proven WR with 3 yrs under his belt for a rookie WR that hasnt caught an NFL pass yet? wallace will not see our field again unless he comes back to play here. My guess the Pats or Bengals as the Pats have a low 1st round pick and could swap, and the Bengals have 21st and lots of money. There are a couple of other teams that have the money to use, so it could get interesting.

 

Bingo

And I'll take your points and the stats you provide... And I'll raise you one SBXLV

 

Mike Wallace Says He Has To Do What He Has To Do, But Says Both Sides Are Talking