Bottom line is, if Wallace’s career didn’t take off immediately, the Steelers would now be looking at a chance to negotiate a much lower deal with Wallace before he reached his fourth year in the league.

Funny how hindsight can make anyone think they are extremely smart.

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Yah, Im really not understanding the thought process of a lot of people here. As of right now, I have 94 thumbs down for thinking Wallace should be able to go get a real contract, and not have to settle for 2.7.

Bare minimum, some team would be willing to shell out 6 million a season for him. Without a doubt. But yet, because the Steelers have him in restricted status, and the league quietly agrees not to sign other teams RFAs, he is stuck making half that.

Isnt this America? Isnt our country based upon a capitalist economy? Why exactly should he “shut up and go to work” when he is being forced to accept a contract for 1 year that is half of his value?

I could understand if this were a Revis like scenario. But Wallace hasnt signed a real contract yet. He played out his rookie deal and didnt complain. Only to get rewarded with a 4th year on that deal that he doesnt want and is worth half what it should be.

I dont get it.

Wallace isn’t worth $7-8M a year. Everybody but some Mike Wallace and some Steelers fans know this.

If he didn’t open his mouth about making that much someone would have likely signed him to an offer sheet. You rolled the dice and lost.”
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I’m not so sure about that. It is extremely rare for an actual offer to be made to a RFA. There’s a kind of gentleman’s agreement about that. It doesn’t always hold (like when the Pats signed Welker), but it’s rare to see a player of note get an offer sheet.

“deljzc says: Jun 13, 2012 11:26 AM

There is no guarantee if the Steelers had signed Wallace to a 4-year rookie deal, Wallace wouldn’t be holding out.

If he feels he’s underpaid at $2.6 million, imagine if his 2012 salary was minimum ($595k).

The 4-year rookie deal isn’t some panacea. Young players that outperform their contracts are still going to cause a stink with 1-year left on their rookie deals OR having an RFA tag on them.

And honestly, there isn’t much difference in negotiating strength for the team/player in either situation.”
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Actually, there’s one really big difference. If Wallace had a year left on his contract, the Steelers could fine the heck out of him for holding out every time he missed a mandatory OTA or camp. Since he completed the terms of his contract, however, Wallace can’t be fined because he technically doesn’t work for the Steelers organization at the moment.

That’s why we have the Trophies and the haters have little or no trophies at all!

Wallace can hold out as long as he wants. That just means more reps for Brown, Saunders and the new guy Clemons. Remember how Wallace came in and tore it up his first year? Clemons can do the same thing in this offense.

Good luck with holding out Mr. Wallace. You better go consult with Santonio Holmes before you get totally assed out from the Steeler organization.

let all the winey crybabies cry. heres something to cry about.. ill trade my $25,000 per yr for his $2 mil.
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Really tired of hearing how pro athletes make so much more than the average person. Of course they do. News flash: employers pay their employees based on what they perceive to be their value to the company. Pro athletes make the money they do because the owners believe they will make much more money off of them through improvements to the team and/or merchandising. While the NFL sponsors and supports a number of charities, it is not itself a charity. It is a highly profitable business. Do they make mistakes on certain players? Sure, but their revenue stream and unfailing profitability would indicate that they’re right a lot more than they’re wrong. You should worry less about what their employers think they’re worth, and more about what your employer thinks you’re worth. If there’s a miscalculation here, it’s more likely to lie with your employer than with the owners in the NFL.

I’m sure every one on here would be completely happy making 50 to 75 percent less than other people doing the same job. I’m assuming this since everyone (except for eaglesw00t) seems to think Mike Wallace should be perfectly happy doing it.
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You see, the way it works here is that there are a whole bunch of people who are so jealous of anyone more successful than they are, that they attack any player who wants to cash in on a portion of the billions of dollars they make for the owners. Kind of odd how so many sports fans can hate on pro athletes so much. The real irony was watching the same people make the same arguments during the challenge to the punishment of the Redskins and Cowboys that they attacked during the CBA negotiations. They absolutely screamed collusion when those two teams were punished, but mashed that old thumbs down button when people brought up the topic during CBA negotiations.

Jackson doesn’t show up until week 10, and ends up on the injury list, making that season a complete bust.

The Chargers use the franchise tag on him the next year, but lose him to free agency the next year.

The Steelers can save $2 million this year, but will have to pay Wallace next year, and then risk losing him the year after because the franchise tag is too high.

The Steelers will end up paying up close to $10 million for 22 games, this season and next, and he can walk the year after.

Give him a multi-year contract at the going rate for receivers, and you have him locked up for 3+ years.

Short term gain for long term pain.

It’s a mess regardless if it happens in 3 years or 4 years. If anything, making it 3 years gives the Steelers a little more of a window to get a player under a second contract before they sky rocket in talent, and price.
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Apparently you’re not very well acquainted with the rules regarding FA, because it matters a great deal indeed. After four years in the league, the player cannot be tagged as a restricted FA. You either extend him before hand, use the actual franchise tag on him, or you risk other teams outbidding you for his services. Happily, this whole restricted FA mess will be over very soon. The new cba requires all drafted players be signed to at minimum a four year contract. I really don’t know how restricted free agency made it into existence anyway. Can you imagine a former boss saying “I know you fulfilled all of your contractual requirements, but I’m not going to let you work for anyone else, nor will I pay you what they would be willing to pay you if they could hire you.”? It’s ridiculous. If they don’t think you should be able to be a free agent after 3 years, then they always should have been signing draft picks to 4 year contracts. If they failed to do so, they should be the ones paying the price. Players should have to pay the price for their own mistakes, not those of the front office.

If he feels he’s underpaid at $2.6 million, imagine if his 2012 salary was minimum ($595k).

The 4-year rookie deal isn’t some panacea. Young players that outperform their contracts are still going to cause a stink with 1-year left on their rookie deals OR having an RFA tag on them.

And honestly, there isn’t much difference in negotiating strength for the team/player in either situation.

If he didn’t open his mouth about making that much someone would have likely signed him to an offer sheet. You rolled the dice and lost.

Haters out in full force, highest form of flattery is imitation, thanks for all the love and support Steeler fans, you guys are truly hilarious!
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Its nothing about haters its all about ppl with knowing something about the game and not some dumb a$$ . Here a ? for you if Colbert is so dumb whats that make Ozzie Newsome you know have the NFLs best QB ever and all those rings dam the rest of the league should just rest their players since the Raven are going to win the big game anyway

I have to believe his agent gets him to sign the 2.7 million tender and hit FA next year.

To those who say this is not a mistake because it allows the team to re-sign a player for a longer renewal term before his price goes through the roof, that can be true, but only if you do, in fact, re-sign the player for a longer renewal term. When that doesn’t happen, you have exactly the problem you see now.

June 15th means nothing because the Steelers have already said they are not going to reduce the 1-year, RFA offer. Florio calls it “taking advantage” of the CBA to reduce the tag, but there is a big disadvantage if you want to continue working with the guy and the Steelers clearly want to have Wallace long term.

Negotiating a long term contract is difficult. Wallace wants free market money. Steelers want a contract that reflects they have the rights to Wallace this year and next (using the franchise tag).

Who knows exactly how far apart they are, but they are apart…. for now.

But the whole idea this is some huge detriment to the 2012 season in JUNE is silly, media-driven hysteria. If Wallace isn’t in camp by mid-August or isn’t on the field Week 1 and prepared, then it’s a story. Until then, this is just contract negotiations the way the CBA is set up.

This is going to be fun to watch

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Come on. Don’t people get tired of being wrong with comments like this?

• The passing game won’t survive without Plaxico… no wait, it won’t survive without Santonio… Oh no, wait NOW it won’t without Mike Wallace

• The Steelers defense won’t get a pass rush with Joey Porter gone, wait no, James Harrison steps in and wins DPOY?

• Ben’s suspended for 4 games, the Steelers will never survive his absence

• The Steelers defense is old and washed up (we were #1 in the NFL in many categories)

I’m willing to admit the Ravens have a class organization and they don’t rebuild, they re-tool. The Steelers are the same way… So please stop predicting their demise EVERY time something happens… They’ll figure it out and/or re-tool, they always do.

“Of course, it wasn’t real bright for the Steelers to use three-year contracts on mid-round draft picks”…

“the Steelers have an opportunity to rectify the blunder”…

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Someone help the Steelers! They keep drafting pro bowl caliber players in the mid to late rounds! What a blunder!

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The blunder isn’t that they drafted these guys. The mistake was not signing them to 4 year deals because the team wanted to save some signing bonus money. That’s the dumb move they are talking about.

You really need to work on your reading comprehension. If you do, it would help keep you from making foolish comments like that one you just made.

Their three-year-contract habit also has laid the foundation an identical mess next year, when 2011 team MVP Antonio Brown becomes a restricted free agent.”

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Great example of being “penny wise, dollar foolish”.

Let’s see the Squealer fans tell us all how wise their team was for saving that extra signing bonus money back then.

lmfao!

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