Mike Wallace: Steelers Star Reportedly Refuses to Sign Franchise Tender

The start of NFL training camp is still months away, but the potential holdouts are already piling up.

According to Pro Football Talk, Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Mike Wallace is unlikely to sign the $2.742 million tender that the team has offered him and plans to stay away from offseason activities if he doesn't get a new deal done.

Mark Kaboly of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review is also reporting that Wallace and his representatives have started to explore a trade, and there are a "handful of teams" interested in the star receiver. 

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What the Steelers have to decide is whether having Wallace for this year is worth losing a possible third or fourth-round draft choice another team is willing to part with in a trade.

If it is, then they will keep him.

If it isn’t, they will trade him.

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And at this point, the odds of the two parties coming to terms on a satisfactory contract seem slim. Wallace and the Steelers have struggled to do so thus far, putting the Pro Bowler on pace for a prolonged absence from the team. 

Wallace isn't likely to win in this particular battle with Pittsburgh, at least if history is any indicator. Like DeSean Jackson with the Philadelphia Eagles last year, Wallace has little leverage, if any, to force the Steelers to pay him as he sees fit. The onus is on Wallace to show up to work in order to accrue the final year of service he needs to become an unrestricted free agent.

Of course, there's still plenty of time between now and the opening of camp, during which Wallace and the Steelers may strike a deal or he could get dealt to a team with money and picks to spare. For now, though, the outlook remains uncomfortably bleak.

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