Swapping Mikes. Could Mike Williams replace someone like Mike Wallace? Credit: Rob Grabowski-US PRESSWIRE

The Steelers may not be able to come to terms with their young speedster receiver, Mike Wallace.  And if by chance that happens, the Steelers may (or very well may not) be on the market to pick up a viable #2 or #3 receiver to compete against the rest of The Core while in camp or even someone who could come along post-Wallace era.

While constantly thinking about the Steelers, I get to play a lot of ‘what if’s’ in my head.  Some are pleasant, some would make a person shudder.  The ‘what if’ currently swirling around the ol’ noggin’ is the Steelers deciding to let Wallace hold out AND take it a step further by looking for another receiver to compete in camp.  There’s one in particular who’s available because his former team showed him the door this past Friday.  The other potential receiver is not likely to sign a long term deal with his current team and will be forced to play with a franchise tag this year.  Without that new deal, he will probably be a free agent next season and may get a good glance by the Steelers were it to come to that.  But which one of these receivers – Mike Williams or Wes Welker – would be a viable option over Mike Wallace?

Mike Williams would be entering his 6th season in the NFL were he to play for another team.  Williams had a shaky start to his career for the first few years and all but completely disappeared by 2007 when on the Tennessee Titans’ roster.  But former college coach and now head coach of the Seahawks, Pete Carroll, signed Williams and got him back in action after Williams missed the 2008 and 2009 seasons.  Williams quickly reached a potential everyone could get behind after catching 65 passes for 751 yards in his first season back.  After Seattle snagged Sydney Rice from the Vikings, most folks thought that Rice and Williams would be a duo to fear.  Williams is 6’5″ and runs a 4.5 40.  Not lighting fast, but on par with most receivers.  That tall frame and decent hands could snag bomb after bomb if given the chance.  However, as most things that come Tavaris Jackson’s way, Williams had a hard time connecting with his QB.  Williams’ production fell in 2011 by 500 yards and was shown the door this past Friday.

Williams could be an effective and make an immediate impact for the Steelers were they to sign him to a one year deal by camp.  It certainly would show Mike Wallace that the Steelers are playing hard ball and playing for keeps.  Everyone is replaceable.  Sure, it could sour relations immensely between Wallace and the Steelers, but I can only assume that things aren’t really that great right now with Mike and the FO over this contract stalemate.  Williams has a big frame and could be a nice compliment to Antonio Brown on the other side of the field.  He’s not as fast as AB, but his size would play a huge advantage.  Were the Steelers offense to have a formation that included Williams, AB, Leonard Pope and Heath Miller – that’s 3 out of 4 guys over 6 feet for corners and linebackers to cover.  A recipe for big gains over the middle with quick screens and in-curls.  Who needs to go big down the field when you can keep peppering a team with 15-20 yard gains every passing down?  I think that Williams is far from being washed up.  He had the potential in 2010 when he was with Matt Hasselbeck.  You have to look at the context of his next season when playing with Tavaris Jackson – who is simply awful.  Little Doug Baldwin was their best receiver with over 700 yards.  The next top receiver had barely over 400 yards.  Jackson and Charlie Whitehurst just killed the offense for these Seahawks.  Williams can still cut it in the league and very well could be a good addition to the Steelers if they decide to ‘move on’ from Mike Wallace.  Williams was supposed to get $3 million in 2012 and would be a steal.

Should Mike Wallace not sign a long term deal and only play one season with his tender (or no season at all), I could certainly see the Steelers deciding to call it quits with Wallace and not go after him as an unrestricted free agent.  At that point, they will have no leverage.  If Wallace doesn’t play at all, then we know he is dead set on big money and the Steelers will never offer it up to a guy who hasn’t deserved it yet.  So who could be out there as a replacement.  Well, regardless of Mike Williams being in the picture or not, there’s a current (and soon to be former) New England Patriot who could take Wallace’s roster spot.

Wes Welker has averaged over 1,000 receiving and averaged 6 TD's per season since 2007. Credit: Matthew Emmons-US PRESSWIRE

Wes Welker got slapped with the franchise tag this offseason by the Patriots.  Welker has been trying to work on an extension with the team this whole time and has until 4pm on Monday to get a deal done.  If that doesn’t happen, then he will be forced to play 2012 with his tendered tag of $9.5 million guaranteed.  My feeling is that if a long term doesn’t get done by then, then Welker probably won’t get signed at the end of the season by the Pats.  There might be a bit of bad blood from all those drops against the Giants in the Super Bowl.

Should Welker be available and the Steelers boot Mike Wallace into the big ocean of free agency, then I think the Steelers could sign Welker to a one year deal.  Worth something close to $6 million.  It’s a bit pricey and Welker is getting up there in years – will be 32 by next offseason – but, he has yet to show any signs of slowing down.  Welker runs a 4.6 40 yard, but his size plays a huge advantage in slants and crossing routes.  He is a very good technique football player and, aside from those drops in SB XLVI, has very good dependable hands.  He is another version of Hines Ward minus the blocking.  And, I would say he’s a cut above Jerricho Cotchery who plays a very similar game.  At least right now he is.

I’m sure it’s a bit of a hard pill to swallow to think that the Steelers would sign a guy just like Hines Ward and almost just as old when the Steelers decided to release Ward.  Depending on how Cotchery continues to pan out, and depending on how this offense evolves this season without Wallace (for the sake of this post), then Welker could be a good addition and short term solution.  There’s no way the Steelers would sign him to anything more than a one year deal, but he could be worth the single season investment.  It might be just the thing they need to be Super Bowl bound again.  They just may want to bench Welker in February…. I kid I kid.

I honestly think that Williams is the better investment.  Bigger frame, younger, and faster are three of his advantages over Welker.  Which one would the Steelers go with?  Hard to say since we are looking at two different periods in time.  But, having to guess which one fits the Steelers offense better and could act as a better replacement over Mike Wallace – I’d have to go with the other Mike.  I’m kind of sick of the Wallace ‘thing’ and wouldn’t mind the Steelers going with someone like Williams as a different option.  Some sources think Williams could go to the Vikes – God love the irony, right Sydney?  As always, we’ll see what happens in the coming weeks.

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Little known fact:  NFL referees have training camp, too.  Often you’ll see different crews officiating scrimmages to get back into the swing of things.  One thing every team receives is a presentation by a crew chief where he explains to the players what refs are looking for when it comes to holding or interference and also any new rules which were put into place over the off-season.

Bill Leavy recently gave this talk to the Seattle Seahawks.   While there, Leavy took the opportunity to unburden his soul concerning his officiating in Super Bowl XL.   Quoth the zebra:

It was a tough thing for me. I kicked two calls in the fourth quarter and I impacted the game, and as an official you never want to do that,” said the veteran of 15 NFL seasons and two Super Bowls.

Of course, this statement has reignited another bout of insipid crying from the five Seahawks fans still paying attention to that rag tag bunch of losers.   Steeler Nation has had to listen to the whining emanating from Seahawk Township for four years now.  Since their team has fallen into disgrace, I had hoped those latte sipping emo bastards would eventually shut up, get over it, and move on to more interesting pursuits such as cutting themselves while listening to Sonic Youth.

But noooooo….    Bill Leavy is tortured.  He “punted” two calls in the Super Bowl!   He’ll never be able to live with himself if he doesn’t confess his sins to a bunch of players who weren’t even on that team.  I get that Seattle hasn’t had anything remotely interesting going on since Nirvana hit it big in 1992.   And I completely understand the Seahawks franchise has to dwell on their one moment in the sun because they’ve been utterly forgettable the other 34 years of their existence.

But enough is enough.

Even Mike Pereira, the NFL’s former Head of Officiating and Leavy’s boss in 2006, has also had enough.  He penned a column for Fox Sports where he wrote, “Did Leavy’s calls determine the winner of Super Bowl XL?  Absolutely not!  In truth, there were missed calls that went against both teams.”

Well said, Mr. Pereira.  Honestly, I didn’t think this needed stated because I thought anybody with a brain in their head already knew the Steelers won Super Bowl XL fair and square.   The “two calls” Leavy claims to have punted were a holding penalty on Seattle which wiped out a play that put them at the Steelers 1 and a personal foul penalty on Matt Hasslebeck after Ike Taylor picked him off at the Steelers 5.

Yes, the holding penalty was ticky-tacky.   NEWSFLASH:  Most holding penalties are ticky-tacky.  The holding call on Justin Hartwig in Super Bowl XLIII that not only cost the Steelers a first down but resulted in a safety was ticky-tacky.   And for the record, Clark Haggans WAS being held.  Perhaps if Seattle’s line wasn’t so badly overmatched that they had to resort to cheating, the ref wouldn’t have had to penalize them.

The Hasselbeck personal foul occurred AFTER he threw an absolutely horrendous INT.  Sure it kept the Steelers from being backed up in their own end but we all know they would’ve marched down the field anyway.  Besides, worrying about the personal foul is like being mad about a cold when you have the Bubonic Plague.  Instead of crying about the 15 yards tacked on after the play, Seahawk Township should direct their ire at the Neil O’Donnell-esque pick their inept QB threw moments earlier.

Every game has some good calls and some bad calls.  Champions find a way to overcome adversity.   Against Indy earlier in the ’05 playoffs, the Steelers were robbed of a clear Troy Polamalu INT that almost cost them a victory.   They overcame the injustice to win.   In Super Bowl XLIII, no less than three ridiculous calls went against them, yet they still pulled it out.  To the credit of Arizona fans, at least they had the class and dignity to admit we were the better team and not carry on like five year old children who just lost at Hungry Hungry Hippos.

Seattle has nobody but themselves to blame for getting demolished in Super Bowl XL.  Ben Roethlisberger was utterly useless, finishing with a QB rating lower than his age.   The defense seemed nervous and tentative in the first half.  Seahawks kicker Josh Brown missed two easy field goals.   Jerramy Stevens played like he dipped his hands in butter before the game.   And Mike Holmgren‘s inept coaching led to some of the poorest clock management this side of Norv Turner.

The bottom line is this:  the refs didn’t allow Willie Parker to blast off a 75 yard touchdown run.   The refs didn’t force Hasselbeck into misfiring on one out of every two passes he attempted.  And the refs didn’t force the Seahawks to stand around like neon green traffic cones while the Steelers pulled the brilliant razzle dazzle of Antwaan Randle-El firing to a wide open Hines Ward for the back-breaking score.

If an NFL player or coach gets screwed by a bad call, the league fines them heavily if they so much as hint that the referee messed up (even if he obviously did).   Yet now we have a ref kissing a bunch of patchouli-smelling ass by stirring up a bunch of stuff with no basis in reality.   Do something useful for a change, Goodell.   Instead of suspending innocent quarterbacks who did nothing except have a little bit of fun with a ho in a bathroom, how about shutting this imbecile up?

Nobody wants to hear it anymore.