Steelers' Wallace no shows opening of camp; team expected to suspend negotiation

Steelers' Wallace no shows opening of camp; team expected to suspend negotiation

Quote :

When Mike Wallace said back in April that he will not show up “until he has to”, as originally reported by ESPN’s Adam Schefter, he apparently meant it. The restricted free agent, who received a first round tender from the Pittsburgh Steelers worth over $2.7 million for the 2012 season, failed to report as the team opened camp today, with the 4 PM reporting deadline having passed.

According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Ed Bouchette, a club source has stated that “the Steelers will suspend negotiations on a multiple-year contract until Wallace signs his one-year tender and reports to the team”.

Because Wallace has not signed his tender, he is technically not under contract, and thus cannot be fined by the team for not appearing. Wallace, in fact, cannot report until he is under contract, which would require either signing his one year tender offer or reaching an agreement on a long-term deal with the Steelers.

With the organization unwilling to negotiate until he reports, however, he will be forced to sign his tender and report before his goal of a long-term contract can be reached. The Steelers have a long-standing policy of not negotiating with holdouts, the most notable in recent years being with Hines Ward, who recently retired as the Steelers’ all-time leading receiver in numerous categories.

Just read this one too.




Wallace a no-show; Steelers suspend negotiations
July 25, 2012 5:31 pm
By Ed Bouchette / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Mike Wallace took another stand when he did not report to training camp on time, and now apparently the Steelers will take one of their own as the contract impasse between the two sides takes a new turn.

The Steelers will suspend negotiations on a multiple-year contract until Wallace signs his one-year tender and reports to the team, a club source said. As a restricted free agent, Wallace was offered a one-year contract worth $2.472 million last March but he remains the only RFA in the NFL who has not signed.

Wallace, who made the Pro Bowl in his third season last year, cannot practice until he is under contract, either by signing the one-year tender or by signing another contract offered by the team that has now been basically rescinded.

The stance of ending negotiations for a holdout has been taken by the team before, most recently when Hines Ward held out for the first two weeks of the 2005 training camp. However, Ward had one year left on his contract at the time and was pressing for a new one. After ending his holdout, negotiations resumed and he received a four-year extension three weeks later.


Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/sports/steelers/wallace-a-no-show-steelers-suspend-negotiations-646152/#ixzz21fn7vCTz

I don't think it should take him too long to realize that, from this point on, he's only hurting himself by not signing his tender and reporting. The sooner the better, but I'm confident it will all be resolved within 2 weeks, if not the coming days.

Dodens Grav wrote:

I don't think it should take him too long to realize that, from this point on, he's only hurting himself by not signing his tender and reporting. The sooner the better, but I'm confident it will all be resolved within 2 weeks, if not the coming days.

Agreed. And I think somebody made the point that the Steelers already did him a favor by not reducing the tender offer when they could have. The least he could do is return that favor and sign and report while continuing to negotiate.

Just curious.... does this finally count as him being a bit of a diva and getting a swelled head?

[quote="Buddha Bus"]

Dodens Grav wrote:

I don't think it should take him too long to realize that, from this point on, he's only hurting himself by not signing his tender and reporting. The sooner the better, but I'm confident it will all be resolved within 2 weeks, if not the coming days.

Agreed. And I think somebody made the point that the Steelers already did him a favor by not reducing the tender offer when they could have. The least he could do is return that favor and sign and report while continuing to negotiate.

Just curious.... does this finally count as him being a bit of a diva and getting a swelled head?[/quote]

Yes!

Mikey has to realize that if the Steelers' front office wouldn't change policy for Hines Ward - a treasured institution in Steeler country - then his stubborness is only going to reduce his financial future. If he holds out for a significant portion of TC, he'll fall behind in learning Haley's playbook... and his stats will suffer. If Wallace holds out during the regular season, his stats will suffer even more.

And, since he's an upcoming UFA, this is his one shot at a large, long-term contract. He needs to realize that the Steelers are standing on principle, and will not waver to suit him. He's only hurting himself. He needs to sign the tender, report to TC, and allow his agent to continue negotiating for him in the background.

Wallace also needs to look several hundred miles northeast, at Santonio Holmes, and realize the grass isn't always greener in a different uniform (even if the actual uniform is green... )

What I do find odd are the comments by Sanders and Lewis that they expect him in 3-4 days to a week. That almost suggests to me that there is a reason he's not coming during the first week of camp that isn't necessarily a "holdout", as in not coming in until his demands are met.

Dodens Grav wrote:

What I do find odd are the comments by Sanders and Lewis that they expect him in 3-4 days to a week. That almost suggests to me that there is a reason he's not coming during the first week of camp that isn't necessarily a "holdout", as in not coming in until his demands are met.

Maybe he's demanding a cargo ship full of only black and gold M&Ms?

Doesn't he know it takes time to come up with that amount of candy-coated chocolate?

Whyant5 wrote:

The longer he holds out, the amount of fucks I give if he comes back continues to decrease. I will root for players that deserve it and how you earn that respect is by showing up to camp and putting the work in.

i hope they release him or trade him(if they can),He needs the STEELERS more than the STEELERS need him

go play for the Raiders they like fast receivers overthere

Well, it looks like he's pissing off the boss man. It won't be long before he realizes he needs to show up.

I honestly don't care what a guy does in training camp if he performs at a Pro Bowl level during the season.

Dodens Grav wrote:

I honestly don't care what a guy does in training camp if he performs at a Pro Bowl level during the season.

Considering the new offensive coordinator, he NEEDS to participate in camp. If something happens, and he isn't there for most of camp, I wouldn't be surprised if he sits the first couple weeks of play. I don't think it comes to that, but i'm in NO way going to downplay the importance of training camp. I've already downplayed the importance of EVERY off-season activity to this point in Wallace's favor, and it seems as he doesn't show up for each activity, the importance of that activity is immediately questioned, when before it was stressed.

CRAP!! You all were THIS close



to hopping back on the bandwagon.



I really don't know how we go from imminent signing and teammates saying he'll be there in a few days to all-out civil war in just a few hours. Everything looked positive. I haven't had a chance yet to read any of the articles, but I'm going into it thinking that this is much ado about nothing and that it's being overblown. I believe I read on Steelers Depot earlier that he'll have to sign the tender first because the Steelers have a tradition of not negotiating with players not in camp. So them breaking off talks really isn't surprising and shouldn't be seen as things souring between the two sides. It's just a formality. I'm guessing Wallace knew this, so I'm not sure why he wouldn't be there. But based on what Sanders and Lewis said, I expect Wallace to be there by the end of this week and that he'll sign the tender.

So in a nutshell, there really isn't anything new or surprising since we learned about Lewis and Sanders' comments. We knew Wallace wasn't going to be there today, and we know the Steelers don't negotiate with players who aren't in camp. So in actuality, this is going according to script.

Lemondrop wrote:

Wallace also needs to look several hundred miles northeast, at Santonio Holmes, and realize the grass isn't always greener in a different uniform (even if the actual uniform is green... )

Well played.

Wallace108 wrote:

CRAP!! You all were THIS close



to hopping back on the bandwagon.



I really don't know how we go from imminent signing and teammates saying he'll be there in a few days to all-out civil war in just a few hours. Everything looked positive. I haven't had a chance yet to read any of the articles, but I'm going into it thinking that this is much ado about nothing and that it's being overblown. I believe I read on Steelers Depot earlier that he'll have to sign the tender first because the Steelers have a tradition of not negotiating with players not in camp. So them breaking off talks really isn't surprising and shouldn't be seen as things souring between the two sides. It's just a formality. I'm guessing Wallace knew this, so I'm not sure why he wouldn't be there. But based on what Sanders and Lewis said, I expect Wallace to be there by the end of this week and that he'll sign the tender.

So in a nutshell, there really isn't anything new or surprising since we learned about Lewis and Sanders' comments. We knew Wallace wasn't going to be there today, and we know the Steelers don't negotiate with players who aren't in camp. So in actuality, this is going according to script.

So essentially, Wallace is taking a a week off, knowing they won't negotiate until he signs the tender and is in camp? Huh. I thought all of the OTA's was break enough.

OK, maybe there's more to this than what I thought:

Quote :

Mark Kaboly ‏@MarkKaboly_Trib

Steelers organization is NOT happy with Mike Wallace not showing up to training camp.

It seems to me there was a breakdown in communication somewhere. It appears the Steelers were expecting him to be there. Why were they expecting him to be there when there's no deal and he hasn't signed the tender? Did he lead them to believe he'd be there? This just isn't making any sense.

Wallace108 wrote:

OK, maybe there's more to this than what I thought:

Quote :

Mark Kaboly ‏@MarkKaboly_Trib

Steelers organization is NOT happy with Mike Wallace not showing up to training camp.

It seems to me there was a breakdown in communication somewhere. It appears the Steelers were expecting him to be there. Why were they expecting him to be there when there's no deal and he hasn't signed the tender? Did he lead them to believe he'd be there? This just isn't making any sense.

It's very important, especially with a new OC, that's he's at camp. In past experiences, it's clear to me there's one thing you don't do, and that's piss off the front office. Santonio Holmes was arguably our greatest asset on the receiving core when we shipped him off for a pick late into the draft. I'm not saying that's what should happen here, i'm just saying Mike fucked up somewhere along the line, and I have NO idea where. As you said, it seems he said he'd be at camp, and now that he's not, the boss man is pissed off.

Quote :

Steelers Depot Steelers Depot ‏@Steelersdepot

If you are surprised by anything that happened today, I am afraid that I am going to have to ask for your fan card. #steelers

Quote :

Steelers Depot ‏@Steelersdepot

Also the bridges will not be open for jumping in regard to Mike Wallace until one week from today.

In fairness to Wallace, this IS sort of uncharted territory. The Steelers do not negotiate with holdouts. But holding out requires that you have a signed contract, which Wallace currently does not have. I suppose it's possible that he wasn't sure if not showing up would suspend the negotiations.

Also, regarding training camp, its importance varies significantly from player to player. Keenan Lewis said that he's been working out with Wallace in New Orleans all off-season and that he's in great shape, etc., etc., and he's had a playbook all along. He also obviously already has an established rhythm with Roethlisberger. To give my honest opinion, I do not think Wallace missing 2 weeks of training camp will have much impact on his or the team's season.

Wallace A Holdout

Quote :

Wallace’s oldest and best friend on the team, Keenan Lewis, thinks that time will come soon.

“He’s a football player. He loves playing the game,” said Lewis. “I’m pretty sure he doesn’t want to sit out. We worked all off-season. He’s in shape. He’s ready to go.”

Lewis said the two worked out “extremely hard” together back home in New Orleans every day during the off-season, and that Lewis filled Wallace in on the new offense as best he could. Lewis said he’s been in daily contact with his friend since then.

“That’s my brother,” Lewis said. “He asked me questions about how the new system fit in, how he’s playing a role. I told him a couple things, a couple tips to make sure he’s ready to go.

“He just wants to be here. He’s anxious to get here. He’s ready to work. I think he’s in the best shape that he’s ever been in, as far as conditioning and running routes and stuff like that.”

Dodens Grav wrote:

In fairness to Wallace, this IS sort of uncharted territory. The Steelers do not negotiate with holdouts. But holding out requires that you have a signed contract, which Wallace currently does not have. I suppose it's possible that he wasn't sure if not showing up would suspend the negotiations.

Also, regarding training camp, its importance varies significantly from player to player. Keenan Lewis said that he's been working out with Wallace in New Orleans all off-season and that he's in great shape, etc., etc., and he's had a playbook all along. He also obviously already has an established rhythm with Roethlisberger. To give my honest opinion, I do not think Wallace missing 2 weeks of training camp will have much impact on his or the team's season.

As far as i'm concerned, as someone said over at SF, it's next man up. If Wallace doesn't want to participate, I wouldn't be surprised if, come week one, someone is sitting in his #1 spot until coach feels he's earned it. Everyone wants him there, and he does need to develop a relationship of some sort with Haley before heading into Denver. Also, no doubt Ben and Mike are virtually on the same page, even without practice, but that doesn't necessarily mean there's a rhythm. If you aren't practicing with the guy who's in charge of getting you the ball, there's going to be rust.

In all fairness, Lewis isn't even a starter. Wallace also spent time with starter, Ike Taylor, as well as Chad Johnson and Antonio Brown. If Wallace has the physical playbook and is studying it, that's good news, but he still needs to be with Haley, and develop a rhythm with Ben. I hope something gets done soon, and I hope he signs the tender within the next couple days. I really like Wallace. His speed, coupled with his lack of injuries, makes him a threat ALL YEAR LONG.

Dodens Grav wrote:

In fairness to Wallace, this IS sort of uncharted territory. The Steelers do not negotiate with holdouts. But holding out requires that you have a signed contract, which Wallace currently does not have. I suppose it's possible that he wasn't sure if not showing up would suspend the negotiations.

That seems like a possible scenario and would explain why it appears there was a breakdown in communication. Hopefully Wallace realizes that he screwed up and gets his ass there. But I agree with you that missing a little time won't hurt him.

Wallace108 wrote:

Dodens Grav wrote:

In fairness to Wallace, this IS sort of uncharted territory. The Steelers do not negotiate with holdouts. But holding out requires that you have a signed contract, which Wallace currently does not have. I suppose it's possible that he wasn't sure if not showing up would suspend the negotiations.

That seems like a possible scenario and would explain why it appears there was a breakdown in communication. Hopefully Wallace realizes that he screwed up and gets his ass there. But I agree with you that missing a little time won't hurt him.

A little time won't hurt him, but i'm not one to believe that a couple weeks is a little time

A couple weeks has been the popular estimation as of late, and that's over half of the camp, unless i'm mistaken.

bayz101 wrote:

In all fairness, Lewis isn't even a starter. Wallace also spent time with starter, Ike Taylor, as well as Chad Johnson and Antonio Brown. If Wallace has the physical playbook and is studying it, that's good news, but he still needs to be with Haley, and develop a rhythm with Ben. I hope something gets done soon, and I hope he signs the tender within the next couple days. I really like Wallace. His speed, coupled with his lack of injuries, makes him a threat ALL YEAR LONG.

I'm not sure what Lewis being a starter has to do with anything (although he very well could be this year and essentially was a part time starter last year). I guess you meant that he wasn't competing against top talent or something? As far as that goes, Lewis grew up covering Wallace down the field all day long; in reality, nobody knows him better as a player. Last year people were saying that Lewis was the only one consistently tracking Wallace deep during training camp.

The point was, however, just that his best friend confirmed that he's been working hard and studying the playbook and asking questions. The fact that he had a playbook has already been known for some time though actually. Lewis said he loves the game and wants to play. He's said in the past that he wants to stay with the Steelers too. This is just how contract negotiations go. Although this era is actually coming to a close, because draft picks now sign 4 year deals minimum, which essentially makes the restricted free agent extinct aside from the occasional undrafted free agent.

Regarding camp, it runs from now to August 17th, but after that they just go back to Pittsburgh and resume practicing anyway.