All you Wallace haters are idiots. … He faces the worst corner on the opposing team every week. Which is exactly why Brown looked so good.
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I’m not a Wallace hater and always want players to get every dime they’re worth. But Wallace has painted himself into a corner. First, he wants more than he’s worth, and the Steelers simply can’t afford it with their cap limitations. Second, the Steelers have a long-standing policy of not overpaying receivers because they only touch the ball a few times per game and are too easily replaced. Third, the Steelers won’t negotiate with players who fail to report once camp starts.

When you play negotiating hardball, you have to understand your counterpart. Clearly, Wallace and his agent don’t. That’s mind-boggling since I’m only a fan and have understood those fundamental rules about the Steelers for many, many years.

And your argument about Wallace drawing the coverage can equally be made about Brown. They made each other look good.

By the way, many people still don’t want to believe this, but Ben Roethlisberger is actually a good enough QB that he doesn’t need a freak WR like Calvin Johnson or Larry Fitzgerald in order for him to be productive. He had the fourth-highest passer rating in the NFL with Hines Ward, Antwaan Randle El and Cedrick Wilson as his top three targets in 2005.

Is he worth Fitz money? Or Megatron?

Or how about this question:

Would you pay a highly talented player on your team 30% over fair market value?

Yeah, I thought so. Of course the Steelers are a better team with Wallace. I don’t think he is a “one trick pony”, but he isn’t God’s gift to WR’s either. He is very good, and so is Brown. But Wallace is playing this all wrong. The Steelers made a nice offer, and would have likely improved it and signed him already if he came in. Instead, they gave Brown a nice deal, and yet he still stays out. The Steelers have a long history of generally paying fair value for players they want to keep. IMO Wallace is blowing this. If he doesn’t show up until late in the season he will make no impact and be a big loser in the net with money. His agent could have gotten insurance in case of injury. So yes I would like to see Wallace play as a Steeler, but if not, life goes on. It always does.

GO STEELERS!!

Keep holding out. Sit out the whole season if you have to. Don’t give up!

Sincerely,
The Rest of the AFC North

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To be honest, that’s pretty standard on this site. If one of the trendy or successful franchises (like the Steelers, Patriots or Packers) take a stand against a player it is always given a fair shout, whereas if one of the less trendy franchises (like the Browns, Bengals or Jaguars) do the same thing then it is deemed to be cheap or shooting themselves in the foot.

This is despite the fact that it makes more sense for less successful teams to take a stand. If MJD sits out the season and the Jags go 2-14 instead of 4-12 it makes much less difference than if the Steelers go 9-7 instead of 10-6.

Wallace is a one trick pony that plays that trick very well. He does demand coverage on slants and hooks, however his lack of looks on those routes. Makes me wonder if he can not control his speed or can not catch in coverage.

When he was a rookie and no one knew he was, they used to run him on end arounds like Stewart was used in the beginning. He ran one that was awesome against Cleveland inside the five, did not score but awesome run.

I think the young man is over playing his hand a year too soon. Or he knows that he is limited and this was his one shot. Either way at this point he is only hurting himself by holding out.

“Steelers are cheap”

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Apparently you haven’t noticed they spend up to the cap limit every season. They’re not unwilling to give Wallace a new deal, they just never negotiate with anyone that has one year left on his contract and refuses to report to camp. Hines Ward was the last to try it and he eventually caved, reported to camp, and got a new deal from the Steelers a week later. It’s Wallace’s move.

“look at how New England has treated Wes Welker”

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Exactly, Welker wants a new contract but the Pats ignored him until he got his butt to camp. The same thing the Steelers are doing with Wallace. The difference is Welker realized he had no leverage, Wallace seems to have yet to figure that out.

Huh! when did the Steelers get a Great QB?

If this were Mike Browns doing people would be calling him cheap and blaming all of this on him… The reason I say this is because it’s very similar to how the Bengals have handled situations like this in the past.

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The big difference is the Steelers have a long history of success with their personnel decisions while the Bengals do not.

(Oh, and a trophy case crammed full of Lombardi’s and Lamar Hunt Trophies)

It’s not about being cheap. The Steelers have cap issues. Even so, they offered Wallace an excellent long-term contract based on his market value–and no other team offered him better. But he wants more than his market value, and it’s a foolish team that overpays.

If Wallace signed his one-year tender, he’d make $2.75 million this season, play on a contending team that’s well-televised, and enhance his value on the open market for next year. It’s a win/win for him. Instead he’s chosen to signal every G.M. in the league that he’s a prima donna. He’ll sit out a year, then have to compete on the market with top NFL and NCAA free agents and draftees coming off hot seasons. He’s just cutting off his nose to spite his face.

The steelers annually spend to the cap limit, and always give their own players large extensions (ben, timmons, woodley, harrison, pola, etc.), so they are not cheap.

The steelers have a history of not bending at all when it comes to negotiating with a player holding out (see ward, hines). When a player does not show up, even when they have been in talks, they tell them theyre done talking until the player reports.

Wallace, i guess, didnt do his homework o wasnt counting on them sticking to their policies.

The steelers arent going to reward a holdout with a trade or fat contract, or else it sets a precedent. I must say, i fully agree with management here.

60 minutes better recognize that Pittsburgh will stand their ground unlike other team a la “da classless jets”

They should definitely just continue to treat Wallace like a jerk, it’s going to get them to the Super Bowl for sure. They are going to be much better without him.

When he finally signed he had a lousy year.

Also will be very lucky if he doesn’t get injured.