Mike Wallace Could Leave The Pittsburgh Steelers In Free Agency

Believe it or not – Hines Ward is not the only headache the Pittsburgh Steelers have at wide receiver.

Mike Wallace is a restricted free agent this offseason and is by no means unobtainable. He’ll receive a qualifying offer from the Steelers, but this offer will almost certainly not be as much as what other teams will be able to offer.

From March 13, any team will be able to make an offer to Wallace provided that the star wide receiver hasn’t already signed the offer sheet given to him by the Pittsburgh Steelers. If a team makes an offer to Wallace and the receiver accepts, the Steelers have a week to try and beat the offer. Should they be unable to, Wallace would be free to sign with his new team and Pittsburgh will receive a draft pick or two in compensation — in the case of Wallace this would probably be a first and a third-round pick.

Why doesn’t Pittsburgh just re-sign Wallace? They’re over the cap. Despite new rules that allow teams to rollover cap space from the previous year, Pittsburgh is in a position where because of the salary cap they may be unable to pay Wallace a competitive contract.

Make no mistake — if Mike Wallace wants to stay in Pittsburgh then he will. But could he be tempted by big money to play elsewhere? History tells us that anything is possible. Do not be surprised to see Wallace in new colors in 2012.

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