Mike Wallace to Ravens: Why Free Agent WR Would Look Good in Baltimore

There are three key questions a team must ask when entering free agency:

What voids do we need to fill? Which available player best fills that void? How will that player mesh with our current roster?

One area of concern the Ravens have admitted they will address this offseason is the wide receiver position. While players like Vincent Jackson and Marques Colston would be nice fits for the Ravens, there is one wide receiver in particular that would be an especially effective signing if the Ravens could pull it off.

Mike Wallace was the leading receiver for the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2011, leading them in receptions (72), yards (1,193) and touchdowns (8). Those numbers are strong for any player, especially one who is only 25 years old.

Furthermore, Wallace was one of five wide receivers in the NFL with at least 70 receptions that averaged over 16 yards per reception in 2012.

While the Ravens have good wide receivers in Anquan Boldin and Torrey Smith, they combined for only 107 receptions and 1,728 yards last season. So there is definitely room for the Baltimore wide receivers to go from good to great.

Adding Wallace could help make that happen, as he's a dynamic playmaker who is still getting better. And if the Ravens were to sign him, not only would they solidify their receiving corps for years to come, but they'd take away their arch-rivals' biggest weapon.

The only hitch in the process could come from a result of Wallace being a restricted free agent. According to the NFL's and the NFLPA's new collective bargaining agreement, if a team wants to keep a restricted free agent, they must assign a tender and a draft pick to that player, which an opposing team must match to sign that player.

The most a team is allowed to attach to a restricted free agent is $2.61 million tender, along with the right of first refusal and a first round selection. So if the Ravens wanted to sign Wallace, they'd have to offer him $2.61 million and give the Steelers a first-round draft pick.

The Steelers would get the first crack at refusing that offer and giving Wallace more money, if they chose to go that route. However, I feel like if they wanted to keep Wallace, they'd have re-signed him already, as free agency begins in three days (March 13, 4 p.m., ET).

Wallace has leverage too. Although he can't go to any team he wants, he's proven to be an elite NFL wide receiver in only three seasons. Three years ago, Wallace signed a $1.7 million contract, which comes out to an average of $566,666 per year.

As a comparison, Wallace had 34 more receiving yards than Dwayne Bowe in 2011. Bowe will make $9.44 million in base salary next year.

ESPN's AFC North blogger Jamison Hensley wrote on February 20 that Wallace could be the most logical free agent wide receiver for the Ravens to pursue. While other teams will be interested in Wallace, the Ravens should seriously think about making a run at him.

Baltimore is one of the few teams in the NFL that is not far away from a Super Bowl. If they started the 2012 season with the same roster they have now, they'd be in good shape. And it's unknown whether or not Wallace will get along, on and off the field, with the current Ravens.

But if Baltimore adds Wallace to the mix, that could easily put them over the top. Imagine Smith and Wallace on the outside, Boldin in the slot and Ray Rice (the NFL's leader in yards from scrimmage) on the field at the same time.

Not bad. Not bad at all.