Taylor: Wallace frustrated with contract status

Wallace108 wrote:

BornaSteelersfan wrote:

I'm going to go on record to stick up for Wallace here. He has had an excellent career so far for The Steelers. He has worked hard and gotten consistently better while getting us to the Super Bowl and the playoffs. If you look at other players all over the league with his kind of stats, most of them make far more than him. I think his agent is the one throwing out things like "Fitzgerald money"; may even be out of context. He is sitting out a little so as not to get hurt and make a statement to The Steelers that says, "show me the money!" He showed up to meet with Mike Tomlin and get Haley's playbook. That speaks volumes for where he wants to be. Give the guy a break and let this thing play out. Stop with all the "knee-jerk" comments, please.

Yeah, I tend to agree with you on this BaSF. I think the emergence of Brown has made everyone OK with tossing Wallace to the curb. But I'm not sure Brown is as productive without Wallace on the opposite side. As I said in my last post, I think Wallace has handled this holdout about as well as a holdout can be handled. Contract negotiations are like a game, and both sides are playing the game. I'd feel much differently if Wallace was running his mouth to the media and acting like T.O. or Ochostinko. But that's not the case.

I'm not "tossing him to the curb". I do think he's a phenomenal athlete, but I do want this "Fitzgerald money" nonsense to stop no matter if it's Wallace or his agent saying it. His agent is a mouthpiece for him and Wallace has the power to tell him to shut up if he chooses.

The Steelers gave him an opportunity to pursue that kind of money by only tendering him because they couldn't afford what he thinks he's worth. There were no takers, so in my eyes (and apparently the other 31 NFL team's eyes), he's got to still prove he's worth that kind of consideration on the field when it matters most. He fades at the end of the season and in the playoffs. He has to show he'll be there to make the big, and tough, plays at clutch times which he hasn't yet. Brown already has and that's why I think he's more valuable and a priority over Wallace if given the choice.

I'm on record as saying I like what Wallace offers speed-wise, but not at the price he seems to be seeking. I don't want to lose Brown because we over-paid Wallace and can't afford him. Brown will pan out as the better receiver IMHO once Wallace's speed starts to fade away, and probably even sooner. If Wallace gets on the field this year and proves he's the better receiver than Brown and does all of the things he needs to do to prove he's worth that money, then I will change my mind and say go for the better receiver in Wallace. I just prefer Brown at this point in time if we have to choose.

Wallace108 wrote:

BGSU A Dub wrote:

Wallace108 wrote:

Wait, you're criticizing Arians and now I'm about to defend him. This is like bizarro day.

I don't think Arians' play calling had much to do with it. It was working like a charm in the first half of the season, and we know Arians didn't go away from it. So I think we have to look at either Wallace or Ben's injury as the primary factors for the dop off.

That's what I'm saying. It worked in the first half of the season because it was new and teams didn't have film yet. 2nd half, teams started to get film of the same offense that we ran every week. Because we didn't change our game plans, teams knew what to expect Wallace to do and had a plan to stop him.

That's possible I guess. So we can count Arians and Ben's injury as possible factors in Wallace's drop off in production. Or it really could all fall on Wallace. If I had to take a guess, I'd say it could be a combination of all three. I'm just not sure I want to pin it all on Wallace and toss him to the curb.

how about opposing defenses double teaming Wallace more in the second half of the season with what the two of you have already posted?