Pittsburgh Steelers’ WR Mike Wallace stays on holdout – NFL News
Wide receiver, Mike Wallace’s teammates are hopeful about his comeback by Pittsburgh Steelers’ training camp next month even though the player is still on a holdout as a protest to his demand of a long-term deal from the team.
Steelers’ managers have assured the player on more than one occasion they will sign him a new deal but since there is no breakthrough on start of the formal negotiations, the player has continued to opt out of the team’s offseason workout
activity.
More importantly, the WR is yet to sign the franchise tender the team has assigned him. He is seen unlikely doing so until something concrete takes place with regard to his pertaining deal request.
The team had June 15 date to apply reduction to the overall value of the tender, amounting to $2.742 million, which could have left him only about 25 percent of the total payout.
Lucky for him the team has avoided making the cut even though it had all the legal powers to do so. Now the player has time until the training camp to sign the tender, and possibly a new contract, if it is hammered out by the team by then.
Irrespective of the fact that the player has maintained a mum on the matter lately, his teammates are hopeful of him showing up at the training camp, no matter what remains the situation with regard to his new deal.
Cornerback, Ike Taylor, in one of his recent comments said he is confident Mike will join them at the training camp. He said:
"He's going to be there (training camp). They'll get it done. When you talk about that kind of money, it's not an overnight type of deal. By the end of the day, I think for sure he's going to get that thing done. Both sides are working
together, so that's a good thing."
Steelers’ quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger, had earlier echoed similar optimism about Wallace’s comeback some time during the training camp, due to start by late July.
Ben said he knew that the WR is very much on the track regarding his fitness and form, and will rejoin the squad at the start of the full training camp.
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