As expected the Pittsburgh Steelers announced on Monday that they have made restricted tender offers to six of their seven restricted free agent players. Those restricted tenders were made to wide receiver Mike Wallace, cornerback Keenan Lewis, safety Ryan Mundy, tight end David Johnson, guard Doug Legursky and guard Ramon Foster. Tackle Jamon Meredith did not receive a tender offer as expected.
Although the website does not clarify the tenders issued, Wallace received a first round tender of $2.742 million while Lewis, Mundy and Johnson almost certainly received the low original round tenders of $1.26 million. We are still waiting for clarification on the tenders issued to both Legursky and Foster, as either could have received the low right of first refusal tenders of $1.26 million or 2nd round tenders of $1.927 million. Scott Brown from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review believes that both were tendered at the low $1.26 million level and that would not be surprising.
By placing restricted tenders on these six players, the Steelers will have the right to match any offer sheets that any of the players should receive once free agency begins. In the case of Wallace, they would receive a first round draft pick from the team that signs him should they decide not to match the offer sheet. In the case of Lewis, Mundy and Johnson, the Steelers would receive as compensation a draft pick from the team that signs them away that matches the round each player was originally drafted in. Both Legursky and Foster were undrafted, so if indeed tendered at the lowest level as Brown suggest, the Steelers would receive no compensation from a team should they sign them away.
