Kevin Colbert told Ed Werder of ESPN over the weekend that the Steelers won’t trade disgruntled WR Mike Wallace.
The two sides appear to be very far apart and the Steelers are preparing to move on without him. Wallace is under contract for the 2012 season and, if the Steelers decide not to trade him, he faces the prospect of sitting out the rest of the season.
Pittsburgh has long had a policy of not negotiating with holdouts. They’ll talk, but only on ownerships terms. Hines Ward held out for 15 days in 2005 before finally reporting to camp. A new deal was reached shortly after Ward arrived in Latrobe.
Wallace has no leverage in this situation and I believe 100% that the Steelers are prepared to play the season without him. Much has been made about how Wallace’s absence will hamper the offense, but the bottom line is that you want to go to battle each week with players who want to be there. Wallace doesn’t.
My guess is that he’ll report towards the end of training camp and that a long term deal will be worked out. These holdouts usually get everybody up in arms and end with the player reporting and then signing. It is very rare for a player to actually sit out an entire season and I don’t see that happening here at all.
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