LATROBE —
Negotiations are suspended with no-show WR Wallace Mike Wallace took another stand when he did not report to training camp on time Wednesday, and now apparently the Steelers will take one of their own as the contract impasse between the two sides takes a new turn.
The Steelers will suspend negotiations on a multiple-year contract until Wallace signs his one-year tender and reports to the team, a club source said. As a restricted free agent, Wallace was offered a one-year contract worth $2,472,000 in March but he remains the only restricted free agent in the league who has not signed.
Wallace, who made the Pro Bowl in his third season last year, cannot practice until he is under contract, either by signing the one-year tender or by signing another contract offered by the team that has now been basically rescinded. Coach Mike Tomlin said after conducting a conditioning test for his players that "this thing" is bigger than Mike Wallace.
"Obviously Mike Wallace was not here today. I don't know when he's going to be here. Obviously, we have a desire for him to be here. We want him to be a part of this thing both short term and long term. We've been in negotiations with him. He's not here today. It's unfortunate for him.
"One thing that experience has taught me is that this is bigger than all of us. It's bigger than Mike, it's bigger than me, so I mean that when I say it's unfortunate for him that he's not here."
The stance of ending negotiations for a holdout has been taken by the team before, most recently when Hines Ward held out for the first two weeks of the 2005 training camp. Ward, however, had one year left on his contract at the time and was pressing for a new one. After ending his holdout, negotiations resumed and he received a four-year extension three weeks later.
"I'm less concerned about negotiations from a coach's standpoint," Tomlin said. "I want the player here. We've extended a tender to him, of course he hasn't signed it. But I'm focused on the guys here working, so I won't focus on him until he gets here."
Steelers president Art Rooney II declined comment on the situation Wednesday at a news conference to formally announce the signing of first-round draft choice David DeCastro. In June, Rooney told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, regarding Wallace's absence from all spring activities, "He should be here."
Said Tomlin: "This group that is the Pittsburgh Steelers will continue to push on. We'll focus our energies on readying the people who are here and, when he shows up, he shows up."
With a new offense installed by coordinator Todd Haley, the Steelers believe training camp becomes more important — even Max Starks, who missed a full camp and the first four games in 2011 until he was resigned and started the rest of the way at left tackle.
"I think, in general, all of us, every player should want to be in training camp," Starks said. "I mean, this is a new offense and there are a lot of little nuances, even though some things will be consistent as far as our coaching staff. But, as far as philosophy and what coach Haley wants to run, I think it's important to get in here at this pace when it's a little bit slower and get adjusted to it, get adjusted to the terminology. That's usually the biggest thing that usually hurts people is coming in to a new type of system with the terminology and everything and thinking that everything's consistent and it's not. I mean I'm just happy to be here so I can start digesting all of it."
While Wallace is out, Emmanuel Sanders will take his spot in the starting lineup. "I definitely will be in his spot at the 'X' position," Sanders said.
"But I got a good feeling that sometime, hopefully, about 4-5 or 3 days, Mike will be showing up. It will definitely be different, it's going to be OTAs all over again."
Tomlin would not say if Sanders could take the job from Wallace if his holdout stretches deep into camp or beyond. "I'm not going to get into the hypotheticals. What I'm going to do is work with Emmanuel Sanders because he's here, and be excited about doing it."
Wallace did pick up Haley's new playbook in the spring, and Sanders believes that he can learn plenty from it.
"Mike is a smart guy, he picks up on things fairly well. I don't have a problem with it, I doubt he'll have a problem with it. The coaches are going to do everything they can do to make sure he understands the playbook. "It's definitely just [X's] and O's, you don't get that experience you get being out here or in OTAs. But they'll give him his fair share of reps so he'll catch up with us."
(Ed Bouchette is the Pittsburgh Steelers beat writer for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. This story was distributed by the Associated Press.)
Steelers
Related Photos
-
Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown talks with reporters Wednesday as he arrives for training camp at the team’s facility in Latrobe.
Discussion
Steelers Camp Opens: ‘This thing’ is bigger than Mike Wallace, Tomlin says
- Steelers
-
-
NFL Draft: Steelers trade to select QB Landry Jones of Oklahoma
Forget the first three rounds of the draft, it took until the third day for things to really get interesting for the Steelers. A linebacker, a halfback and a wide receiver fail in comparison to what happened Saturday in the fourth round. First, the Steelers traded away a future draft pick for the first time in 40 years, and then they drafted a quarterback!
-
Gene Collier: Jones falls into Steelers' lap during NFL Draft
The surprises didn't exactly come in waves in Round 1 of the NFL draft, which was perfectly thematic because it was certainly no surprise when the Steelers pounced on Jarvis Jones, much in the way they expect him to pounce on quarterbacks as early as this fall.
-
NFL Draft: Steelers looking for depth, not impact players
Pittsburgh Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert doesn’t believe there’s an immediate starter to be found with the team’s 17th pick in the NFL draft.
-
Steelers sign Gradkowski; Leftwich likely gone
Bruce Gradkowski, who grew up in Dormont and played at Seton-LaSalle High School, has signed a three-year contract to return home to play quarterback for the Steelers.
-
Steelers cut James Harrison in cap move
James Harrison’s snarling tenacity made the Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker one of the NFL’s most intimidating players for nearly a decade. Big hits — some legal, some not so much — also turned the outspoken five-time Pro Bowler into focal point for a league-wide crackdown on helmet-to-helmet contact.
-
Big Ben announces K-9 grant for New Castle
New Castle’s police department has received a grant from the Ben Roethlisberger Foundation to add to its K-9 unit. The $8,000 grant will be used to buy a dog, either trained or untrained, and a safety vest for the canine. If the dog requires training, the grant covers that cost.
-
County commissioners call meeting on YDC
The Lawrence County commissioners have invited area legislators and other officials to discuss options for the Youth Development Center property. Commissioner Chairman Dan Vogler said the meeting, set for tomorrow afternoon will basically be “a brainstorming session” among the officials “to discuss what options are open to us.”
-
Steelers cut RB Rainey after arrest in Florida
Rookie running back Chris Rainey has run out of chances with the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Steelers cut the troubled 24-year-old following his arrest on a battery charge in Gainesville, Fla., yesterday, the latest in a series of off-the-field incidents that have threatened his career.
-
Steelers bracing for changes after 8-8 season
The Pittsburgh Steelers spent all fall claiming the chatter generated by various off-the-field issues was only so much background noise. Through Mike Wallace’s contract status to the relationship between quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and Todd Haley to the injury problems that kept bold-faced players out of the lineup for long stretches, the Steelers insisted they were focused.
-
Steve Treu: Like his Steelers teammates, Big Ben played small when it mattered most
He is the player most responsible for restoring championship glory to the franchise. More than any other, he should get the most credit for delivering the last two Super Bowl titles to Pittsburgh.
- More Steelers Headlines
-
