Mike Wallace: Steelers Receiver Should Sign Tender and End Needless Drama

One of the NFL's disgruntled star wide receivers may have caved this week when Wes Welker of the New England Patriots signed his franchise tender, but fellow wideout Mike Wallace of the Pittsburgh Steelers doesn't appear to be in any hurry to pick up a pen just yet, according to reports.

ESPN's Adam Schefter reported Tuesday via Pro Football Talk that Wallace, who reeled in 72 catches for 1,193 yards and eight touchdowns last year, likely won't be reporting to Steelers headquarters for "a while." Schefter went on to say that Wallace has no intention of signing his restricted free agent tender "unless he absolutely has to."

The tender would pay the fourth-year pro $2.7 million in 2012, and Wallace has until June 15 to either sign the tender or hammer out a long-term deal with the team. Progress on an extension has been somewhere between slow and non-existent, and it wouldn't appear at this point that things are going to suddenly and mysteriously kick into high gear.

So, assuming that a long-term deal isn't coming in the next month, What's the next step?

Signing the tender and reporting with his teammates, that's what.

For one, the Steelers are in the process of installing a new offense under Todd Haley. Given that running back Rashard Mendenhall's availability for the season is very much in question that offense is probably going to rely pretty heavily on the pass. That said, it might be nice if Pittsburgh's top receiver was learning it alongside his teammates, and Wallace can't do that from his couch.

Wallace may also want to take into consideration that Antonio Brown had a breakout season of his own a year ago and Emmanuel Sanders is a talented young player. Yes, Mike Wallace is a solid young wide receiver, but the Steelers have demonstrated time and time again that in their eyes, no one man is bigger than the organization.

Also, if Wallace doesn't sign the tender by June 15, the Steelers can then rescind the tender and replace it with an offer equal to 110 percent of Wallace's 2011 base salary, which would be $577,000.

And you thought $2.7 million was lowball.

Granted, Wallace could pull a Vincent Jackson, sit for 10 games, sign the tender at that point and collect a prorated salary while still accruing the year of service time that would make him an unrestricted free agent in 2013. However, that sort of "scorched-earth" decision would all but certainly end his days in Pittsburgh and seems both unlikely and ill-advised.

Mike Wallace is one of the best deep-threat wide receivers in the NFL and certainly would appear deserving of a contract befitting that status. On the other hand, the Pittsburgh Steelers are a team not prone to rash decisions or overspending that realizes fully that they're headed for a similar situation with Antonio Brown a year from now.

Wallace may well deserve that long-term deal, but all indications are that he's not getting it this year. With that said, and given the realities of his situation, the best thing Wallace can do at this point is sign the tender, report and do everything in his power to make the Steelers wish in 2013 that they'd locked him up when they had the chance.

The only way he can do that is on the field catching passes.

Follow @IDPManor