On a day where one high profile holdout got worse, with Maurice Jones-Drew expressing his anger with Jaguars ownership and saying he’d be open to a trade, the other remaining high profile holdout seemingly got better. According to separate reports by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and the NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, Wallace is expected to join the Steelers this weekend, after their preseason game against the Buffalo Bills on Saturday.

The Steelers refusal to move Wallace in a trade appears to have paid off as Wallace will be a big contributor for a team built to win now. His long term future with the team remains murky as they would appear to lack the cap space needed to give Wallace the type of money he wants and deserves, especially after extending Antonio Brown.

They had to restructure several contracts this offseason just to get under the cap and next offseason they figure to be very backed up against the cap, if not over it, as all of the recently restructured deals will hurt them more next offseason and because Brown’s extension will kick in. However, for a team built to win now, 1 year of Wallace was probably worth more to them than any type of 2013 draft pick (or picks) they could have gotten in a trade for him.

Wallace should still have a down year statistically after his extended holdout. By holding out, he risked getting out of shape. It’s very tough to stay in top football shape on your own. Even more likely, he also missed valuable Training Camp and preseason time with a new offensive coordinator, Todd Haley, coming in. Antonio Brown likely has a much stronger grasp of the playbook than Wallace and he should lead the team in receiving this year. Wallace caught 72 passes for 1193 yards and 8 touchdowns last season, while Brown caught 69 passes for 1108 yards and 2 touchdowns.

If you’re interested in doing a fantasy football league with me, here’s the link (no draft date set yet, currently standard, with the option to become PPR with group vote). http://msn.foxsports.com/fantasy/football/commissioner/Registration/Private.aspx?league=55086&password=FanSpot2

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WR Mike Wallace

This is an interesting one. Under normal circumstances, Wallace would appear to be an obvious candidate for the franchise tag because the Steelers don’t really have any other pending free agents worth the tag. However, Wallace could hold out into the 2012 season and the Steelers probably wouldn’t reward him with a franchise tag if he does that. They also are pretty backed up against the cap after extending Antonio Brown, so they might not have the cap space to tag Wallace or even extend him at all, even if he reports before the start of the 2012 season.

Likelihood: Somewhat unlikely

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After Antonio Brown signed an extension yesterday and the Steelers said they would no longer be discussing an extension with Mike Wallace, speculation picked up quickly that Wallace would be traded. According to ESPN’s Ed Werder, GM Kevin Colbert is denying that Wallace is available for trade. That may be true, but it may also be the Steelers trying to drum up a false report so they can get more in return for Wallace in any potential deal. If teams see the Steelers as feeling desperate to move Wallace, their offerings would likely be significantly smaller. Teams rarely confirm that they’re trying to trade a player and the ones that do often don’t get very much in return.

Meanwhile, if this report is true, we’ll just have to see if that remains the case if it’s a week or two from now and Wallace still has not reported. Obviously, best case scenario for the Steelers is that he reports and helps a team that is in win now mode and this report may signify that the Steelers are clinging to hope that Wallace reports. Either way, this report should not be as interpreted as Wallace won’t be traded. It should be interpreted as “Wallace won’t be traded… yet” or “we are trying to trade Wallace, but we don’t want to make it look like we’re selling him on Craigslist.”

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After extending Antonio Brown earlier today, news came out that the Steelers would not be giving Mike Wallace an extension and that he would either have to play out the season on his restricted tender, roughly 2.7 million, or be traded. Some speculated that Wallace, if he signs his tender, would be franchised next offseason. However, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Ed Bouchette, there is “no way” that would happen.

I have to agree with the latter. The Steelers almost definitely couldn’t afford to pay Wallace the nearly 10 million guaranteed that the wide receiver franchise tag would be worth next offseason, especially not after extending Brown. The Steelers are backed up against the cap this offseason and figure to be backed up against the cap again next offseason, after restructuring several contracts this offseason just to get under the cap. They also don’t “need” Wallace, with two young, talented receivers in Brown and Emmanuel Sanders on the roster.

The Steelers have probably known all along that they would only be able to keep one of their two wide receivers long term and rather than give Wallace the 60 million over 5 years he wants, they gave Brown 42.5 million over 5 years. That seems like a better value. Plus, the “Steeler Way” doesn’t tolerate players putting themselves above the team like this (just ask Santonio Holmes). Wallace rejected a more than reasonable 5 year, 50 million dollar deal from the Steelers earlier this week.

Look for them to entertain trade offers in the coming days for Wallace. A pair of second rounders or a 1^st rounder should do the trick and there could be a half dozen or more teams interested in the still just 26-year-old Wallace, including teams that might consider themselves rebuilding, because he is still young. Obvious landing spots would include the Colts, Vikings, Panthers, Seahawks, and Bills, all of whom have the cap space to get this deal done. The Rams also make a lot of sense, but they’d have to backload any deal to Wallace as they don’t have a lot of cap space.

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On the same day that the Steelers signed Antonio Brown to a long term deal, the team confirmed that they would not be giving Mike Wallace a long term contract, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Earlier this week, the two sides broke talks off completely as the Steelers refused to negotiate with him until he reported to camp, which he says he won’t do until he gets his new deal.

With Wallace not cooperating, the Steelers turned their focus to Brown, who would have been a restricted free agent next offseason and made it nearly impossible under the cap for them to sign Wallace. Brown’s 5 year, 42.5 million dollar contract was much more reasonable than the contract that Wallace was holding out for and since they probably would only be able to keep one going forward, they probably made the right move.

Now the pressure is on Wallace to sign his tender, which will pay him 2.742 million dollars this season. If he doesn’t they may opt to trade Wallace and go forward with Antonio Brown and the promising young Emmanuel Sanders going forward. If he does, they reserve the right to franchise him next offseason. This situation reminds me of the Brandon Marshall situation a few offseasons ago.

Marshall was a restricted free agent who could have been had for a 1st round pick. No one was willing to pay that price, but the Dolphins were willing to give up a pair of 2nd round picks so they essentially did the NFL’s version of a sign and trade with the Broncos, signed Marshall long term and sent a pair of 2nd round picks to Denver. The Steelers should be able to at least get that for Wallace, even though no one was willing to sacrifice a 1^st rounder for him before the draft.

Making that move would allow them to get cheaper and younger for the future and to move on from a malcontent wide receiver who is demanding more money than he’s worth. Receiver needy teams who could make sense for Wallace in a trade include St. Louis, Seattle, Carolina, Minnesota, Indianapolis, Buffalo, and the Jets. Cleveland, Baltimore, and Cincinnati all need receiver help as well, but it’s unlikely that the Steelers would agree to trade Wallace in the division.

Regardless of whether or not he gets traded, Wallace’s fantasy value could take a major hit this season. If he reports, it’ll likely be after a long holdout, which could led to him getting out of shape and will cost him valuable time learning the playbook, while other receivers like Brown and Sanders are gaining greater mastery of Todd Haley’s new system.

If he gets traded, he’ll be traded to a team likely with an inferior quarterback and receivers have a poor track record when switching teams, especially this close to the season. It takes time to learn a playbook and get adjusted to a quarterback. I’d let him be someone else’s problem in fantasy leagues, especially at his current ADP in the early 4th round. Brown and Sanders, meanwhile, are currently underrated at their current ADPs of the late 5th round and the 14th round respectively.

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The Steelers have resigned offensive tackle Max Starks. There was a lot of doubt about this because Starks tore his ACL in January and because Starks was out of football as recently as last October with weight issues. However, he’s still only 30 years old and played pretty well as the Steelers’ left tackle last year. He allowed 6 sacks, 7 quarterback hits, and 20 quarterback pressures, while committing 5 penalties and run blocking well in 13 starts, including playoffs. He’ll provide insurance at left tackle for 2^nd round rookie Mike Adams, while 2011 2^nd round pick Marcus Gilbert will remain at right tackle.

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Earlier this week, former Cardinal, Dolphin, and Steeler Joey Porter signed a one day contract to retire as a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers at the age of 35. A 1999 3^rd round pick, Porter spent 8 seasons with the Steelers and won a Super Bowl. With them, he had 60 sacks. He then spent 3 years in Miami, where he had another 32 sacks, including an AFC leading 17.5 in 2008.

He finished his career with 2 years in Arizona, where had had just 6 sacks, including just 1 last season. He retires with 98 sacks, 30^th all-time, 4 Pro-Bowl appearances, and as a member of the Steelers All-Time team and the NFL’s 2000s All-Decade team. He’ll be a candidate for the Steelers’ ring of honor and a fringe candidate for the Hall-of-Fame.

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