Mike Wallace = target for Pats deep threat?

[Aßßynormal]

Why can't they Franchise him? So what if he's in the first three years? It used to be either/or. Is the CBA specifying that no third year player can be tagged? If so, there's a chance we lose Gronk. Further, we can go after Andy Dalton in two tears (and only pay a 1st?). Something's not right about this.

ARTICLE 10 FRANCHISE AND TRANSITION PLAYERS
Section 1. Franchise Player Designations: Except as set forth in Section 9 below, each Club shall be permitted to designate one of its players who would otherwise be an Unrestricted Free Agent as a Franchise Player each season during the term of this Agreement. The player so designated may be one who would otherwise be a Restricted Free Agent.


http://nfllabor.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/collective-bargaining-agreement-2011-2020.pdf

Page 44 (pdf)

A resticted Free Agent can be franchised. Of course, I didn't read the whole agreement.

 

[Joker]

 

[IllegalContact]

Brady has thrown ths ball more than 70yds in the air, I don't know why you'd think he can't throw far.

he has.....and maybe he can still do it during practice, but his long ball has become less than stellar.....ever single one he has tried recently has been intercepted.

 

[Gronkandez]

ARTICLE 10 FRANCHISE AND TRANSITION PLAYERS
Section 1. Franchise Player Designations: Except as set forth in Section 9 below, each Club shall be permitted to designate one of its players who would otherwise be an Unrestricted Free Agent as a Franchise Player each season during the term of this Agreement. The player so designated may be one who would otherwise be a Restricted Free Agent.


http://nfllabor.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/collective-bargaining-agreement-2011-2020.pdf

Page 44 (pdf)

A resticted Free Agent can be franchised. Of course, I didn't read the whole agreement.

The issues with that is they are way over the cap right now. They will restructure a bunch of guys but even then, it would be very dificult to be under with the cap with a WR franchise number of around $8.5M.

 

[condon84]

he has.....and maybe he can still do it during practice, but his long ball has become less than stellar.....ever single one he has tried recently has been intercepted.

I think it's more because the long ball is not emphasized as much in this offense with it's current state. It's not being practiced as much so he doesn't get the repetition and it's affecting his timing. He can still chuck it a long way as we witnessed in the SB and his INT in the Ravens game. He just doesn't anticipate as well as he did before. If we do get a legitimate deep threat, I'm sure Brady can get his timing down better.

 

[condon84]

cherry picking. No one cares for YPC. Malcolm Floyd and Johnny Knox were #1 and #2 in YPC this year. They both combined caught 80 balls and scored 7 td's.


You lost your dimishing credibility completely with this excuse.
Let's also note that Colston plays in a dome, and hasn't had to face the Ravens twice a year during his career

So, lets cherry pick away stats of every dome receiver since well you know they benefitted from the dome, maybe not the QB like Brees.. Since out goes stats for Marvin Harrison, Reggie Wayne, Megatron, Fitzgerald, Moss, Largent....let's throw out Rice too since he played in sunny Cali and the NFC west was garbage those years and he never played Bears, Giants, Cowboys 2x a year

In that case let's also throw out Brady and Moss stats all together since AFC East has been garbage for last decade with vaunted defenses of Bills, Dolphins, Jets. Should not count since they did not play in Ravens, Steelers twice a year.

Amaaaaaaazing logic

Just watching both the Steelers and Saints offense and how defenses defend them, it's clear that Wallace makes a bigger impact. Wallace opens up the entire field for the Steelers offense because of the attention defenses commit to defend him going deep. I don't think you can say that about Colston and in large part is the reason why Colston has more catches than Wallace.

Not saying Colston isn't any good, but I would agree with the idea that Wallace is a better fit for this offense.

 

[Major **********]

There is only one player in the UFA/RFA market that I would give up a first rounder for. Mario Williams.
I'd rather spend more for Colston than give up a first rounder for Wallace and give him a good chunk of change.

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

I wouldn't mind giving up a 1st at all but he's going to cost way too much cap wise. Welker is already going to take up $9-10 mill/yr. Wallace might at least double that at one position. Spend the $$ on a DB or somewhere we really need it. You can have all the talent in the world at WR/TE but they can be slowed down in the most crucial times, it's happened 3 times already after looking unstoppable.

 

[BWareofDWare]

I don't see any way that the Patriots would invest big money in Colston. He's had 5 knee surgeries in his career including a microfracture procedure on each knee. Not to mention they will do their due diligence, and here is the Saints chronological points per game production in the games that Colston has missed in his career: 31, 34, 24, 32, 31, 27, 34, 13, 30, 40. The NFL certainly has players that can be great fits in a system and still be great players, but this isn't exactly 2009 Wes Welker where he goes down and the offense is toast.

 

[lillloyd]

Even if no team makes a run at him as a RFA, Wallace will be an interesting decision for us if he reaches UFA status next year.

Positives: he's still a young, developing player. His speed is top-5 in the league. Even aside from his own production, he is a massive benefit to the rest of the passing game because he completely blows the top off of the deep coverage, leaving more holes underneath.

Negatives: he seemed to regress significantly in the 2nd half of the year. He is not a complete receiver yet. Antonio Brown is a more complete receiver and actually started to draw more attention than Wallace did from defenses as the year progressed.

The Steelers rarely let good young players walk, but the notable exception is with their receivers (Burress, Holmes). Granted those two were knuckleheads (something that Wallace doesn't appear to be). But given the fact we have other good young WRs, it may be tough to justify a $10 million a year-type contract for a receiver that's still something of a one trick pony...although with that speed it's a GREAT trick.

I will say this: if you're the Pats and you've ID'd a deep threat as a priority, why not take a shot at arguably the best one in the league? If nothing else you'll force Pitt to pay more (and earlier) than they might otherwise do. The downside is that he's restricted obviously, so if there are other UFA options out there that don't require a draft pick that may be more palatable.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

The Patriots can and will have a great offense in 2012, the patriots offense is now about delivering the ball and gaining huge YAC, with the patriots offensive line, almost any NFL rated QB should be able to make most of the throws that Brady does now.

What you lose from trading tom is someone who knows every facet of the offense, who has seen everything and knows how to react when things change in front of him. i dont know if Brian Hoyer could ever run the hurryup offense as well as Brady does right now because of that.

i love tom brady. i love his fire, his work ethic, his drive and his football intelligence, but if Belichick thinks Hoyer can come close, he has to make this move. he would free up about 10 million in cap space and you could actually go pick up any WR you wanted after that and have 4 of the best targets in the game with one of the best O-lines in the game to protect him.

Some of you give the message board designation practice squad player deeper meaning...

 

[SeymourTrophies]

1) If Brady isn't on this team, tennis elbow, chad pennington arm, and all, we are duking it out with the colts in the suck for luck sweepstakes. He's older, and injuries will affect him more, but he's still next to none. The 'everyone can make those throws' remark is moderately offensive. Take Tim Tebow out of the pool and it's still upsetting. At the worst, Hoyer and Mallett learn everything they can from him. Hoyer is trade fodder, Mallett is the one they drafted with heir apparent in mind.

2) Welker isn't going to command 10 mil. Welker needs this team as much as this team needs him.

Not that I think this Wallace scenario happens, but if someone does make an offer for Wallace, the Steelers have no room match if they're the 20 mil over the cap that everyone is saying. The kind of speed Wallace has would keep people honest though.

 

[Deus Irae]

Just to reiterate, Wallace is a dream scenario. It's extremely unlikely to happen. Roethlisberger certainly expects Wallace back in Pittsburgh. The Steelers have already shaved $15 million off their 2012 cap number by restructuring the deals of Timmons, Taylor and Woodley.

 

[Danielbaron1]

Just to reiterate, Wallace is a dream scenario. It's extremely unlikely to happen. Roethlisberger certainly expects Wallace back in Pittsburgh. The Steelers have already shaved $15 million off their 2012 cap number by restructuring the deals of Timmons, Taylor and Woodley.

arent they still over the cap?

 

[Deus Irae]

arent they still over the cap?

The Sun Sentinel had them at 149 before, so this would seem to put them at about 134. A writer at Steelersdepot.com has a different number, including a couple of releases from Wednesday, and he has a list of potential avenues for more cap relief:

Steelers 2012 Salary Cap Bone Still Has A Lot Of Meat Left On It | Steelers Depot

 

[Zeus]

No question Wallace is an intriguing player. Assuming that the compensation would indeed be a #1 pick, there is no way the Patriots give up such a high draft pick (young player, relatively short money, under their control for at least three years) for a player who would require a big contract.

It's altogether possible that the Steelers are hoping someone will pay the freight for Wallace. I'm sure they like the player but rectifying the salary cap situation will require some difficult choices. They may find the draft pick to be quite attractive.

 

[MP-Logick]

It certainly seems like it will be difficult for the Steelers to give Wallace an enormous contract while still remaining under the cap. I know they can still save a lot more money (9 million alone from cutting Casey Hampton and Aaron Smith), but add the contract restructurings into that and the money they are pushing forward into later years and they may really damage their flexibility for upcoming years...

But guys like Wallace don't grow on trees.

 

[AzPatsFan]

How many times has Colston averaged more than 16.5 YPC?

How many times has Colston reached 1250 yards receiving in a season?



And let's note that both players are averaging 8 TDs a season and Wallace is averaging more yards per season, despite having a rookie season where Holmes (79 catches) and Ward (95 catches) were well established receivers ahead of him being counted in this mix, while Colston's rookie season was spent with a 34 year Joe Horn (37 catches) as the next best WR on his team. Let's also note that Colston plays in a dome, and hasn't had to face the Ravens twice a year during his career.

I am not at all assured that Wallace would fit with the Pats. He gets most of his long catches based on Routhlesberger's unique extended plays. He gets open then, after the routes are run, then catches on the scrambles, and then runs away from the broken coverage. That is NOT a Patriots way of playing ball. More likely to be a Jerry Galloway or Ocho Cinco on the Pats.

Sorry I pass.

I would much rather have a a guy proven to be able, and who has demonstrated he can succeed playing the Pats/McDaneil, option route, Offense. Furthermore, he wants to follow McDaniels. Welcome aboard, Brandon Lloyd

 

[Banjo]

It's really sickening to think how the Patriots missed the boat by drafting Brandon Tate one pick ahead of this guy. but either way, Wallace would have commanded a big contract just the same. if we can lock Wallace in for the next five years, I say take it. he's still young and can absolutely get better.

Wallace, Welker, Gronk, and Hernandez would be a damn good receiving corp for one more run next season.

 

[patsfan-1982]

Mike Wallace and any WR not named Wes Welker that wants more then 6 million a year is not going to be a patriot, a young KR/PR with Lightning speed that can play 5 to 10 snaps a game on offense runing a post route is all the pats need,

Welker gronk and hernandez had 3806 yards rec and 33 TD's if they pats are going to spend any money on FA's it need to go on a vet safety and on keeping Carter and Anderson, pats won 13 games and were one play away from winning it all with the 31th ranked defense imagine how good they can be with the 15th ranked defense that can make key stops when they need them