Lack of Interest in High-Priced Mike Wallace Music to Pittsburgh Steelers' Ears

Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Mike Wallace is a restricted free agent after posting over 1,100 receiving yards last season for the second time in his three-year career.

Although many pundits believed that some NFL squad would at least express a measure of interest in signing the 25-year-old speedster to an offer sheet, so far the market for his services has been non-existent.

There are a number of factors that could be contributing to the lack of suitors for Wallace, but the biggest impediment could be both the exorbitant contract demands that Wallace has made plus the compensation that any team that signs him would have to pay the Steelers, according to recent report by Gregg Rosenthal of NFL.com.

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There have been reports Wallace wants more than $100 million in a contract. He wants Larry Fitzgerald money. If that's true, the cost of the contract, plus a first-round draft pick, could make him too expensive.

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Rosenthal's assertion jibes with a recent report by the Sacramento Bee's Matt Barrows, who stated that the San Francisco 49ers, who were rumored to be one of the teams with interest in the talented wideout, did make an inquiry about Wallace, only to reportedly be frightened off by Wallace's contract demands.

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A league source said that Wallace, 25, wants a contract that surpasses the eight-year, $120 million deal that Larry Fitzgerald signed last year with the Cardinals. Combine that with the first-round pick any team that signs Wallace to an offer sheet would lose if the Steelers didn't match the offer, and you start to understand why we've heard so little about Wallace in the last week and a half.

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These demands seem to be paving the way for Wallace to return to Pittsburgh for at least one more season, as the Steelers tendered Wallace at the first-round level, which would pay him roughly $2.7 million next year.

That amount is certainly considerably less than what Wallace is reportedly seeking, but as Rosenthal reports, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin isn't crying any tears over Wallace playing the 2012 season for that relatively low salary.

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Business will take care of itself, but Mike will report and be the guy that he's always been in my mind, and that's a guy that has a desire to be the best and a guy that's willing to work daily to be the best.

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There's always a possibility that a team could swoop in and sign Wallace to an offer sheet that the cap-strapped Steelers would be hard pressed to match.

It's also possible that the Steelers will sign Wallace to a long-term contract that will enable Pittsburgh to avoid going through all this and then some next season, when Wallace is set to become an unrestricted free agent.

However, as things stand today, it appears that Mike Wallace will be playing one more season for the Pittsburgh Steelers, after which his quest for a monster payday can begin again in earnest.

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