It certainly didn’t take long for wide receiver Mike Wallace to get a new home as the Miami Dolphins traded him and a seventh-round draft pick to the Minnesota Vikings Friday night for a fifth-round draft pick, according to several media reports.
Wallace, who really seemed to fall out of favor last season with his Dolphin teammates, became expendable when Miami acquired wide receiver Kenny Stills from the New Orleans Saints via a trade earlier in the day. Wallace still has three years left on the five-year, $60 million contract that he signed with the Dolphins in 2013.
The Dolphins will clear $5.5 million in salary cap space this season in trading Wallace and the Vikings will now be on the hook for the three remaining base salaries on the wide receiver’s contract. Wallace is scheduled to earn $9.85 million in 2015 and $11.45 million in 2016 and 2017.
As long as the Vikings don’t restructure Wallace’s contract, they can cut him after the 2015 without any salary cap repercussions if he fails to play well.
When Wallace left the Pittsburgh Steelers as an unrestricted free agent two years ago, the Vikings were one team that were reportedly actively pursuing him.
Wallace was originally drafted by the Steelers in the third round of the 2009 NFL Draft out of Mississippi.
