Steelers offer to RFA WR Mike Wallace: one-year, $2.7 million

[madmike77]

Let's say a team would like Mike Wallace, but won't be able to pay Jackson/Garcon money for him. Couldn't they just sign him to a 5 year - 25 million dollar deal just to force the Steelers to match and pay more against the cap this year? It's all hypothetical, and besides being a jerk why don't teams do it more often?

They could, but again, why would Wallace accept a deal like that? He would likely rather take a small risk, make his $2.7 million this year and then get a fat 5-year, $55 million deal next year.

 

[Spiral]

The smart thing to do is wait until the Steelers use up more of their cap space, then make an offer. Per PFT, they have about $10M in cap space. Let their cap space go down a few million first. Other teams may not be as interested in Wallace, since just about every other teams' first round pick is worth more than the 31st. The best move here is to be patient. If some other team jumps in ahead of the Patriots, so be it. I'm sure they have other options.

 

[madmike77]

The smart thing to do is wait until the Steelers use up more of their cap space, then make an offer. Per PFT, they have about $10M in cap space. Let their cap space go down a few million first. Other teams may not be as interested in Wallace, since just about every other teams' first round pick is worth more than the 31st. The best move here is to be patient. If some other team jumps in ahead of the Patriots, so be it. I'm sure they have other options.

After their RFA tenders the Steelers only have about 2 million (that includes Wallace's tender). It's unlikely they'd be using any more up.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

EDIT: Sorry that wasn't as clear as it should have been. $2.7-million is the CBA-mandated offer for an RFA WR if a team wants to place the 1st round tender on him. All I was trying to say is it's not a number the Steelers came up with. If they wanted the 1st round pick back they had to offer him exactly $2.7 million.

Actually, that's not quite true:

(k) Notwithstanding the foregoing, in the event that the Prior Club of a Restricted Free Agent has tendered the player a Qualifying Offer in an amount at least $500,000 greater than that required by Subsection 2(b)(i)(4) above, then the Club shall have a Right of First Refusal and Draft Choice Compensation of One First Round Selection and any provision in an Offer Sheet to such player waiving or limiting the New Club’s ability to designate the player as a Franchise Player or Transition Player in the future shall not be a Principal Term, and therefore need not be included in a contract formed with the Prior Club as a result of matching such Offer Sheet (but shall be included in a contract formed with the New Club as a result of the Prior Club not matching such an Offer Sheet)

 

[JoeSixPat]

honestly, i haven't heard anything from any pats writers on the pats interest in any WR other than the one from st.louis

Actually I've heard just the opposite, with a number of mailbag editors noting what a good fit Wallace would be for the Pats needs

Michael Holley, who seems to know a thing or two about Belichick's thought process is very high on Wallace over Lloyd, noting that Lloyd is a stop gap measure, would likely cost a lot and leave the team looking for a WR again in two years given his age

.... Whereas Wallace is just 25, could be here long term, and is more of a sure thing than whatever WR the Patriots could get with 31 anyways.

It will be interesting to see if the market for Wallace picks up now that teams have made their early moves, or if it remains somewhat stagnant given the high salary demands and need to give up a 1st round pick.

I think Wallace and his agents must also know that as an RFA requiring draft compensation, and the fact that they would be gaining long term security rather than the risk of injury at $2.7 million this year gives them an incentive to sign with a new team (or getup an extension from the Steelers)

It still seems to me taking a weapon like Wallace away from a perennial AFC playoff team is a win win for the Patriots.

 

[Kontradiction]

Desperation offer.

They basically saying they'll give him more than his tender is worth for a season so that he stays there and then they will guarantee he will either be allowed to hit the market next season or they will work to sign him long term when the cap space is in better condition.

That's a lot of trust to put into an employer. I say he tests the market still to see if anyone will offer the first rounder and the money.

He's almost certainly going to test the market. While I hope that the Pats will extend an offer to him, I have serious doubt it will happen. Even though this is probably the year to trade away a first rounder (since both are pretty low in the draft), I just don't see Belichick giving that much compensation to Wallace on top of helping a direct AFC rival possibly rebuild a roster that is as old as dirt.

 

[Sean Pa Patriot]

wes welker will be the highest paid reciever on the pats.. mike wallace will need mega bucks that the pats will not pay....

 

[supafly]

I agree with those who say there's no way that Wallace would come here. There are too many question marks about him, what to set his value at, and whether or not he could produce here enough to actually earn his pay (which is probably one of the main reasons why BB likely never considered any of these big name WR's, there's just not enough balls to go around to justify their pay). Not only that, but the compensation would be way too much, on the borderline of stupid. There's probably a bunch of other pretty good WR's who could have been had for a lesser contract and a first rd pick or less, had BB wanted to give something like that up.

For those crazy people who think that the last couple of days has not had any effect on the potential Welker negotiations (you know you're out there), here is a good article that was just posted a few minutes ago to the front page newsfeed:

It Is What It Is » Long-term deal for Welker doesn’t make sense for Patriots

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Unless you anticipate Welker falling off a cliff in less than two years there is really no reason for this team not to extend itself for Welker. They've done as much for others playing positions that were more easily replaceable in the draft.

Continuing down this road will result in one of two things, paying him millions more against the cap in the two remaining flat cap seasons than they need to while paying him roughly the same $21M or so in guaranteed money he would see on a longer term deal and letting him walk in a Brady contract year while getting nothing more than a compensatory 5th in 2015 for him as a ten year veteran or letting him walk next season in exchange for a potential 3rd or 4th round comp pick in 2014 while having to find a way to replace 100+ receptions and a thousand plus yards of offense on a team with a seriously pissed off HOF QB entering the last two years of his contract.

Brady's never squeezed this organization or flexed his considerable muscle in over a decade here. He's been the good soldier and toed the company line even when he believed they were making a serious mistake, and he's always done his best to cover their asses from experiencing the full consequences. If Welker becomes another challenge to overcome on the road to Canton, it could be his tipping point. He gave an interview a while back that someone on the radio was reading the other day where he talked about Wes and the ACL. How the doctors tell you the knee is stronger than it was pre injury but how tough it remains to rehab from both mentally and physically to get back to where you were pre injury. Said Welker is the only player he has ever seen come back from it and be better than he was before the injury (which was pretty damn outstanding to begin with).

I think that the message they send with Welker will reverberate throughout the locker room, and that can be a good thing or a very bad thing as this team approaches the last handful of years they will have a leader like Brady at the helm so they'd be wise to take that into consideration in addition to production when calculating Welker's value.

I don't think Welker is any more likely to be done here or not worth his deal in 3 years than any younger guy they've signed to a 5 or more year extension in the last couple of seasons is. In fact I think it's less likely they get $8-9M+ worth of production (or leadership by example) out of Wilfork or Mayo or Mankins in the next three years than it is they could expect that from Welker.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Unless you anticipate Welker falling off a cliff in less than two years there is really no reason for this team not to extend itself for Welker. They've done as much for others playing positions that were more easily replaceable in the draft.

Continuing down this road will result in one of two things, paying him millions more against the cap in the two remaining flat cap seasons than they need to while paying him roughly the same $21M or so in guaranteed money he would see on a longer term deal and letting him walk in a Brady contract year while getting nothing more than a compensatory 5th in 2015 for him as a ten year veteran or letting him walk next season in exchange for a potential 3rd or 4th round comp pick in 2014 while having to find a way to replace 100+ receptions and a thousand plus yards of offense on a team with a seriously pissed off HOF QB entering the last two years of his contract.

It's clear that WW was wise not to accept the 2yr/8m per/$16 guaranteed deal as the market has dictated such. We sill don't know what exactly WW asked for or how high the Pats will go. What we do know is the Pats, like every organization are openly cautious about paying/having a substantial cap hit IF WW can't produce 100+ catches at 34 years old. With the exception of Jerry Rice, almost every WR's production at 34 is not worth a $9m cap hit. WW is an against the odds, over-achieving athlete no question. But history is not on his side. All the restructuring, converting likely to be earned $$ into a bonus, salary, etc. does not change his contract unless WW accepts a pay cut to stay which the team has shown it will move players at the bat of an eye (see Vrable, Willie Mac, etc.)

Brady's never squeezed this organization or flexed his considerable muscle in over a decade here. He's been the good soldier and toed the company line even when he believed they were making a serious mistake, and he's always done his best to cover their asses from experiencing the full consequences.

Brady never needed to squeeze the org because he never needed to. He knows that his situation here is great and going to another team is a risky proposition. He would never want to be known as the Qb who left a 3 time SB champion for money. The only time things seemed to get dicey was in 2006 when the up-front cash needed to be divided into separate installments. No question he was PO'ed with the Branch debacle (which turned out to be the right decision) but TB has matured and understands that it's a business.

If Welker becomes another challenge to overcome on the road to Canton, it could be his tipping point. He gave an interview a while back that someone on the radio was reading the other day where he talked about Wes and the ACL. How the doctors tell you the knee is stronger than it was pre injury but how tough it remains to rehab from both mentally and physically to get back to where you were pre injury. Said Welker is the only player he has ever seen come back from it and be better than he was before the injury (which was pretty damn outstanding to begin with).

I think that the message they send with Welker will reverberate throughout the locker room, and that can be a good thing or a very bad thing as this team approaches the last handful of years they will have a leader like Brady at the helm so they'd be wise to take that into consideration in addition to production when calculating Welker's value.

Meh. There is a long line of players that have been taken care of by this organization financially. Players know that things get dicey when they hit 31 or 32 years old and they have a big salary. WW knows this which is why he wants the up-front cash now.

I don't think Welker is any more likely to be done here or not worth his deal in 3 years than any younger guy they've signed to a 5 or more year extension in the last couple of seasons is. In fact I think it's less likely they get $8-9M+ worth of production (or leadership by example) out of Wilfork or Mayo or Mankins in the next three years than it is they could expect that from Welker.

Clearly the Pats aren't quite sure as you are. I think we'd agree that if WW hadn't blown out his knee in 2009, he'd likely be entering year 3 of a 4 year deal that would have paid him $9m annually. He got hurt and its 3 seasons later....

 

[WhiZa]

They could, but again, why would Wallace accept a deal like that? He would likely rather take a small risk, make his $2.7 million this year and then get a fat 5-year, $55 million deal next year.

I guess I never thought about what Wallace wanted in this situation

I guess in the same scenario a team could try to sign him to a 1 year - 5 million dollar contract. Of course Wallace would take it, and it would force the steelers to pay more this year for him this year. Granted you won't have him next year, but if you're a team who's not spending big money you probably wouldn't of been able to sign him anyway.

 

[satz]

I guess I never thought about what Wallace wanted in this situation

I guess in the same scenario a team could try to sign him to a 1 year - 5 million dollar contract. Of course Wallace would take it, and it would force the steelers to pay more this year for him this year. Granted you won't have him next year, but if you're a team who's not spending big money you probably wouldn't of been able to sign him anyway.

Which team i wonder will piss off the steelers ownership and get on there wrong side for years to come .

 

[RobertWeathers]

Which team i wonder will piss off the steelers ownership and get on there wrong side for years to come .

Signing Wallace to an offer sheet does not mean the Steelers will issue a vendetta. They are ones who did not extend Wallace and executed on issuing the RFA tag on Wallace.

 

[satz]

Signing Wallace to an offer sheet does not mean the Steelers will issue a vendetta. They are ones who did not extend Wallace and executed on issuing the RFA tag on Wallace.

does it matter ?... the owner has to sit with that owner in meeting and work with him years.

If you believe this whole we gave a 2nd and 7th for wes to the dolphins owner as not to put a poison pill or actually sign a RFA contract to keep that owner happyas a myth ,let me know. Steelers owner is the Irish ambassador and is a older respected owner. I will be suprised to see another owner take him on.

 

[RobertWeathers]

does it matter ?... the owner has to sit with that owner in meeting and work with him years.

If you believe this whole we gave a 2nd and 7th for wes to the other owner will be happy and kraft not wanting get on the wrong side of the dolphins owner as a myth ,let me know. Steelers owner is the Irish ambassador and is a older respected owner. I will be suprised to see another owner take him on.

It's happened before and Rooney and Kraft got along just fine afterwards.

Patriots get Bailey after Pittsburgh declines to match offer sheet - NFL - ESPN

Now, signing another team's drafted players to the practice squad is much worse.

 

[madmike77]

Signing Wallace to an offer sheet does not mean the Steelers will issue a vendetta. They are ones who did not extend Wallace and executed on issuing the RFA tag on Wallace.

They have talked to him about a new contract. But Wallace and his agent want to see what offers are out there first, which makes complete sense.

Signing him to an extension before last year would have been a bit risky, since he only have one year as a starter.

Their real mistake was signing him to a rookie 3-year deal instead of a 4-year deal. They did the same thing with Brown. Both Wallace and Brown were relative longshots (3rd and 6th rounders) so you can sort of justify the shorter deals, but still in hindsight it was a big mistake.

 

[RobertWeathers]

They have talked to him about a new contract. But Wallace and his agent want to see what offers are out there first, which makes complete sense.

Signing him to an extension before last year would have been a bit risky, since he only have one year as a starter.

Their real mistake was signing him to a rookie 3-year deal instead of a 4-year deal. They did the same thing with Brown. Both Wallace and Brown were relative longshots (3rd and 6th rounders) so you can sort of justify the shorter deals, but still in hindsight it was a big mistake.

Yep. I read that anything under $10m a year/$20m bonus, Wallace balked at.

Nonetheless, a massive mistake by Pitt FO.

 

[MP-Logick]

Jeff Howe of NESN is reporting that if the Patriots were to sign Wallace to an offer sheet they would have to give up the 27th overall pick, not the 31st.

 

[mcsully]

Jeff Howe of NESN is reporting that if the Patriots were to sign Wallace to an offer sheet they would have to give up the 27th overall pick, not the 31st.

He's incorrect. team gives up their own pick. In this case it would be 31.

 

[KDPPatsfan85]

He's incorrect. team gives up their own pick. In this case it would be 31.

Derek Havens ‏ @PatriotsHaven Interesting RT @jeffphowe If Pats sign Mike Wallace, NFL defines draft comp as "Its own or better." Pats would give up 27th pick, not 31st.

If we arent willing to pay welker then why should we trade for Wallace who will want over 10 mil a year!