And now for the least surprising news of the day: Mike Wallace did not attend the opening of Pittsburgh Steelers minicamp.
Wallace, as you probably know, is looking for a new contract and has refused to sign his first-round tender, which is worth $2.7 million. The wide receiver remained in Louisiana on Tuesday, according to The Associated Press, as his teammates went to work without him.
"It's probably short-term misery," Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said of his leading receiver, according to the AP. "Hopefully there will be closure at some point and this will be in our rearview mirror."
If the Steelers truly wanted to play hardball, they could let Wallace know they plan to slash his tender down to $577,500, as is their right if he doesn't sign by June 15.
But in a bit of olive-branch goodness, Pittsburgh does not have plans to exercise that right.
The most likely outcome is that Wallace will sign the tender and earn $2.7 million as both sides continue to work toward a potential long-term deal. If they can't get it done, the Steelers can use their franchise tag on Wallace in 2013. In that case, Wallace can expect a salary in the range of the $9.5 million Wes Welker is set to earn after being tagged by the New England Patriots this year.
If Wallace stays healthy and effective, the worst-case scenario has him getting a considerable raise next season via the tag. Wallace just has to take things one step at a time.
