Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver DeSean Jackson has some advice for Pittsburgh Steelers restricted wide receiver Mike Wallace, who has yet to report and sign his $2.742 tender offer, “Holding out just doesn’t end up being worth it.”
Jackson should know as his 12-day holdout really went nowhere and he suggests others such as Wallace and Jacksonville Jaguars running back Maurice Jones-Drew not go that route. Jackson, who was a guest Thursday morning on NFL AM, recapped his situation last year. “Well, going through my little deal and things like that, I definitely found out there’s really not much you can do,” he said. “There’s no control you really have over that. Trying to force a team to pay and things like that is definitely not something too smart.”
Jackson had some advice for both Wallace and Jones-Drew, both who he considers good friends. “I would say just go keep working hard and go out there and prove what kind of player you are,” he told the new morning show on the NFL Network. “With them guys, Mike Wallace and Maurice Jones-Drew, actually good friends of mine and hopefully something will happen soon enough and they can get back to playing football. But you know it’s a tricky, it’s a tricky situation. You can’t force anybody, any organization to pay you, so that’s the biggest thing about that.”
Now while the Steelers front office and fanbase certainly hope that Wallace heeds the advice of Jackson soon, it is important to keep in mind that Jackson pretty much had to show up, as his situation was different than that of Wallace\’s this year. Jackson was under contract and heading into the final year of his contract and as a result faced a deadline, that had he not reported, he would have lost his accrued season towards free agency. He also faced fines at a clip of $30,000 a day in addition.
With Wallace, being as he is not technically under contract, he can\’t be fined by the Steelers. In addition, his deadline revolves only needing to be on the roster 6 games to get his accrued season towards free agency. That\’s the difference between players under contract and restricted free agents that refuse to sign their tender. Jackson wasn\’t going to risk losing that accrued season and he ultimately reported before the deadline set forth in the new CBA in regard to players under contract to get that accrued season.
Wallace, as I have stated several times now, is in a no-win situation now, especially after General Manager Kevin Colbert came out and said last week that they are not going to trade him. It was his only possible escape route that has now since been bolted shut.
Should Wallace ultimately decide to sit out the first 11 weeks of the season and then report, he will only earn $967,765.00 in 2012 and also faces the threat of the Steelers placing the franchise tag on him next offseason, which figures to be around $10 million. All of that results in the former third round draft pick earning less than $11 million in two seasons.
To reiterate what Jackson said Wednesday, even though the two were in totally different situations, “Holding out just doesn’t end up being worth it.”
