Care to Play ‘Where’s Wallace’ With the Steelers?

So, there’s not much action on the Mike Wallace (receiver Mike Wallace not icon of TV journalism Mike Wallace) front right now.  I guess there is a big difference between being an in demand free agent and an in demand restricted free agent.  There are NFL teams out there with money to spend at wide out and teams with draft picks to spend on a proven player of Wallace’s caliber.  So where’s the love? He is speedy for sure.  He is not injury prone.  He does not have a reputation as being a problem in the locker room.   It is true that his production had a hell of a bell curve to it last year but when Wallace was on his game, he was bordering on scary good.  I posted earlier this off season that I was sure that Mike Wallace would be an ex Steeler as soon as the signing frenzy began but here we sit about twenty four hours from the closing deadline on offer sheets and he is still very much a Stiller. 

According to PFT, the following teams are all at least ten million dollars (supply your own Dr. Evil voice) under the NFL salary cap: Jags, Titans, Colts, Broncos, Chiefs, Eagles, Seahawks, and Vikings.  Holy cow, the Bengals and the Browns right here in the AFC North have millions to spend on bolstering their teams and depleting a hated foe.  I guess the lessons of Napoleon are lost on them…..  Maybe a team isn’t ready to spend a first round pick on a known commodity like Wallace but you would think the Steelers would listen to a Frank Fritz style bundle for him. 

I would be more than happy to see Mike Wallace remain a Steeler for another season.  He will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of next season and, if he has another productive year, should be printing his own money.  He is not going to find a lot of sympathy in Steelers Nation if he continues to avoid the South Side and does not show up in Latrobe later this year.  He has a new offensive scheme to learn and no matter how fast he can run, if it is in the wrong direction, there will be problems.  A financially frustrated player in the last year of his contract can be a really good thing for both the player and the team he is playing for or it can be football hell.  There is still some time on the offer clock and trades are still possible. 

Where do you see Mike Wallace playing in September?