According to a report this morning by Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, the Pittsburgh Steelers are nowhere close to getting a new long-term deal done with wide receiver Mike Wallace prior to the start of the season. Bouchette credits the info to the infamous, source close to the situation.
While the final grains of sand are slowly trickling through the skinny part of the hour glass, there is still plenty of time for the two sides to come to an agreement. Of course not knowing exactly what one side is wanting and the other side is offering makes this all hard to handicap, but I still have no reason to believe that a new deal won\’t get done prior to the team flying out to Denver.
The Steelers have the cap room now to get a new deal done and I am willing to bet that the two sides are close in total value. The sticking point has to be the guaranteed amount and with a little over 48 hours to go before the plane leaves for Denver, we shall see if one side gives a little there.
Wallace faces the reality of earning $12.74 million total over this year and next, while the Steelers face the reality that they might have to franchise him next year. Neither side likes those realities. It makes too much sense not to get this worked out over the course of the next few days. We shall see, but time is indeed short.
