We can\’t go a full week without an update on Pittsburgh Steelers restricted free agent Mike Wallace, now can we?
Last weekend it was Len Pasquarelli of The Sports Xchange that reported that there’s been very little negotiating and no progress made between the Steelers and Wallace in regard to new long-term deal. Today, John Clayton of ESPN said in an interview that the Steelers are still optimistic about getting a new deal done with their fourth-year wide receiver, even before the start of training camp.
“Talking to people in the Steelers organization, they\’re still optimistic that something can get gone, and get done before training camp,” said Clayton. “And that\’s their history. They\’ve always been good about taking care of their top players, the Troy Polamalus\’, the Ben Roethisberger. Now Mike Wallace is one of their top young players, and so even though nothing is close at the moment, there\’s still time before the start of camp, and people in the Steeler organization are confident they get can something done and that there will be no holdout and Wallace will be signed to a long-term deal.”
What do we believe here? Hard to really believe any of it, but Clayton did cover the Steelers beat from 1978-86, so he likely still has a few connections with the organization. Bus Cook, the agent for Wallace, has not talked to the media throughout the entire offseason and Wallace has been very quiet himself. It all remains very speculative as to the way this will ultimately play out and a late arrival to Latrobe for Wallace is certainly not out of the question with just 11 days left until reporting day.
