Steelers' gamble on Mike Wallace worked…or did it?

The Pittsburgh Steelers knew they didn’t have the money to give unrestricted free agent Mike Wallace the type of payday he wanted so they decided to engage their star wide receiver in a game of chicken instead.

And they played it masterfully. Rather than be held hostage by Wallace’s salary demands they let him test the market. Not for free though, they set a price for teams that may have been looking to sign him.

Any team that signed Wallace would have to give up a first round draft pick to the Steelers making the prospect of signing Wallace extremely steep. Not only would a team have to sign Wallace to a huge contract, they would also have to give up a valuable draft pick.

No team would bite which has forced Wallace to consider the Steelers’ not-so-lucrative offer if he wants to play this season.

But rest assured, Wallace will get his payday soon enough. He will be an unrestricted free agent after the season and there will definitely be suitors for his skills.

But what does a disgruntled Wallace mean for the Steelers this year? Last year the Philadelphia Eagles had to deal with a productive wide receiver who felt he should have gotten a big extension and that didn’t go so well for them.

DeSean Jackson had decent numbers for the Eagles last year but there were times during the season when he was questioned for a lack of effort. His constant grumbling over his contract was also a distraction for his team.

And the Steelers can ill afford for Wallace to give anything other than his best effort on the field. They were forced to part ways with long-time Steeler Hines Ward over the offseason because they didn’t have salary cap room to sign him so they will need even more production out of the wide receivers they have.

The Steelers will need to work this season to ease the tension with Wallace and try to make room for him under the cap in 2013 if they plan to keep him. Whether they plan to keep him or not though, you can probably look for the Steelers to draft a receiver somewhere in the draft.

In the meanwhile, Wallace has stated that he will not sign the Steelers’ offer until he absolutely has too. It is doubtful Wallace will hold out the way Tennessee Titans running back Chris Johnson and Eagles’ wide receiver Jackson did last season since that would keep Wallace from becoming a free agent next year.

But you can definitely expect Wallace to express his frustrations with his contract situation all year long. He will play well enough to show teams that his 2011 numbers aren’t a fluke but Steelers’ fans probably shouldn’t expect him to repeat his numbers from last season.

Roosevelt Hall is an NFL Blogger for The Sport Mentalist and an NBA Blogger for The Sport Mentalist 2. He is also a Sports Reporter for Pro Sports Lives. He can be contacted at RHall_TPFB@Yahoo.com and be sure to follow him on Twitter @sportmentalist.

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