Mike Wallace: Should the Pittsburgh Steelers Reconsider, Trade Him?

There has been a ton of speculation regarding what is actually going to take place with disgruntled Steelers receiver Mike Wallace.

In response to these questions, Pittsburgh Steelers GM Kevin Colbert told ESPN’s Ed Werder on July 28 that “Mike Wallace is not available for trade.”

Then a report surfaced on August 8th by Gary Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that the Steelers would not trade Mike Wallace “at any point this season”.

Even though the Steelers just gave fellow receiver Antonio Brown a five-year, $42.5 million contract extension, the only thing holding up a new deal for Wallace is the receiver himself.

It’s not that the Steelers do not want to give him a contract; however, they will not deal with any player who is not in camp.

It is my opinion that the Steelers' stance on not trading Mike Wallace should not change and will not change barring an extreme circumstance.

Unless a team offers something along the lines of two or three first-round picks or a combination of first-round picks and a top player at a position of need, I wouldn’t even think of trading Mike Wallace.

It is understandable that everyone is a little tired of hearing about the situation and that they’d rather see Mike Wallace just show up to camp; however, I do not hold that against him.

Believe me, I’d much rather this whole thing just be over and Wallace be in camp getting acclimated to the new Todd Haley offense also.

I just do not hold it against most players who really have only one shot to try to get their big pay days, and the only time my stance would change is if Wallace decides to miss regular-season games.

I’m not advocating it, but if Wallace just misses most of camp but is back in time for the regular season, regardless of the contract outcome, then I can live with that.

Missing actual regular-season games, however, is just not necessary and hurts the fans, the team and Wallace, as well.

Although Mike Wallace has been portrayed as a selfish, me-first player during this whole process, the Steelers offense is still better with him on the field, and I hope to see him in a Steelers uniform for years to come.