What was thought to be a done deal has now turned into a contract dispute. News has surfaced that Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Mike Wallace will not sign his restricted free agent tender and will not participate in any of the Steelers' offseason activities. There have also been rumors floating around that there is interest in trading for Wallace, according to an article posted by Mark Kaboly on the Steel Mill Blog on the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review website.
Less than 24 hours after a league source told me that a handful of teams are interested in trading for Wallace leading up the NFL draft scheduled for two weeks from today, news leaked that Wallace doesn't intend on showing up to any of the Steelers' offseason activities in protest of his first-round tender.
Wallace becoming a distraction is the last thing that the Steelers wanted to deal with during the offseason. Given how close the Steelers are to the salary cap, there's probably not a way that they can work on a long term deal for Wallace at this point anyway.
Kaboly does bring up a similar situation involving former Steeler wide receiver Santonio Holmes demanding a trade entering the final year of his contract before he was traded for a fifth-round draft pick to the New York Jets. Wallace should command higher than a fifth-round pick if the Steelers choose to deal him.
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