Pittsburgh Steelers to restart deal talks as WR Mike Wallace returns by week 1 – NFL News
Pittsburgh Steelers’ rebellious wide receiver Mike Wallace is tipped to be heading back to join the squad from first week of the regular season next month and the return is expected to put back his deal talks on the track after an interrupted negotiations
process, which was stalled in training camp phase due to the player’s absence.
Steelers had demanded the receiver to first show up at the camp to facilitate the talk process they had halted, which now a section of media has reported is likely to start by the first week of the regular season.
A similar confirmation had come from his teammate quarterback Ben Roethlisberger who said he had spoken to Wallace a week earlier. Ben said:
"I gave him a call to wish him happy birthday and see how he was doing. And Mike's training hard. He's training with his helmet on just like he'd be here. So he's doing a lot of things. And I have confidence he'll be here and ready to go for the season."
It is rather good news for Ben, who has been pairing with the receiver in the team’s offence all along the past years, and both were successful in producing better results with the collective efforts.
Wallace has missed training camp and other offseason activity to press the compelling demand of a long-term contract from the team. In spite of Steelers’ repeated assurances to work out a deal for him, the process never really took off to smooth flow of
talks on the matter.
As a result of the delay, the player decided to remain on the fence and also refused to sign the $2.7 franchise tender in protest. The team has tagged Wallace to the restricted free agent franchise tender of worth $2.7 million. They also assured him to work
out a new contract for him.
Coach Mike Tomlin reacted strongly to the player’s absence from training camp earlier this month and said the team was not going to talk the deal matter unless and until the receiver returned to the camp.
The good news, as confirmed by Big Ben, is Wallace is in good shape and fully prepared to hit the field.
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