Why Pittsburgh Steelers WR Mike Wallace Shouldn't Bother Holding out

Yesterday, it was reported that Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Mike Wallace is refusing to sign his restricted free-agent tender, worth $2.74 million for the 2012 season. While this isn't an uncommon tactic, one has to wonder whether or not Wallace is simply being misguided in doing so, considering the circumstances.

The Steelers entered the start of the league year nearly $30 million over the salary cap, necessitating a round of veteran cuts and contract restructures just to be in the black by the March deadline.

While retaining Wallace has always been one of their top priorities, the money just wasn't there and the Steelers had little choice but to give him a first-round RFA tender and hope for the best.

The market for Wallace's services rapidly dried up upon reports that he was seeking a long-term deal worth in the area of $120 million. Add to that the cost of the first-round draft pick any interested team would have to give up to grab him and he simply became too expensive, almost guaranteeing that he wouldn't get a contract offer by the April 20 deadline.

Now, it's understandable that Wallace thinks he's worth that much money, and he and his agent, Bus Cook, aren't off-base for seeking such a deal. However, if Wallace and Cook believe sitting out at least through OTAs and not signing the first-round tender is a way to get that kind of money from the Steelers, they're sorely and sadly mistaken.

If the Steelers thought they could free up that kind of cash to give Wallace a long-term deal they would have already, it's as simple as that. They know what he's worth to the team, what he's already accomplished and likely to accomplish in the future, and by giving him the RFA tender, they aren't discounting that

They're just doing the only thing they can in their situation. At $120 million, over seven years, Wallace could potentially be owed as much as $17 million in 2012. The Steelers just don't have that kind of money—they're somewhere around $4-5 million under the cap presently—unless they make more cuts, deeper ones, ones more expensive to the overall health of the team than the cost of Wallace's holdout.

A holdout isn't going to change the Steelers' financial situation. Nor is it going to help him get a deal with Pittsburgh if they can come up with the money, considering the team's history of suspending negotiations with holdouts.

So while Wallace can sit out all he wants, through OTAs, minicamp and even training camp, a payday just isn't likely to come from it.

Missing camp shouldn't be a problem for Wallace, though this is the Steelers' first season with offensive coordinator Todd Haley calling the plays. The lockout didn't seem to harm his production any, and as long as Wallace signs the tender by mid-November, he won't be out any cash and won't miss the entire season.

The latter—holding out into and through November—seems highly unlikely. If he does so, he makes no money this year and becomes a restricted free agent in 2013, and subject to this very same process.

Right now Wallace is playing a game of chicken that's quite common in the NFL. However, in this case, it was a losing game from the start. Wallace (and Cook) need to do this posturing now because, yes, Wallace is worth quite a bit more yearly than what the Steelers can give him this season, but eventually he'll back down.

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