Hey guys, we'll take a break from our daily training camp reports today, as the players have been given the day off. In place of the daily training camp report, I'll discuss something else that may affect the Phins, Steelers' WR Mike Wallace. The Steelers and Wallace have had difficulty with each other to say the least, with Wallace wanting a long term lucrative contract, while the Steelers want to keep him on a restricted free agent tender because of their salary cap issues. Wallace then began a holdout in order to either get paid by the Steelers or get traded to someone who will pay him. Then, to make matters worse, the Steelers recently gave WR Antonio Brown a 5 year, $42.5 million extension. Brown was the starter across from Wallace this past year. With this move, the Steelers increased the likelihood of a Wallace trade. it has been reported that, in the time after the Steelers gave Antonio Brown a big extension, three teams contacted the Steelers about a trade. Those three teams were the Indianapolis Colts, Dallas Cowboys and our very own Miami Dolphins. After the jump, we will look at what Wallace brings to the table, what his cost will be and how he would fit in our West Coast offense.
Mike Wallace, age 25, was drafted in the 3rd round of the 2009 draft by the Pittsburgh Steelers. At first, he was used exclusively as a deep threat, simply running the "go" route every time he was on the field. As he gained experience, his role with the team increased, to the point that he is currently the Steelers' no. 1 WR and was named to the 2011 pro bowl. With a career 18.7 YPC average, he is a dynamic playmaker that can get you plenty of yards. In addition, he has a career average of 8 TDs per season, while former Dolphin Brandon Marshall only averaged 5.6 TDs per season. This shows that he can be threat to both get chunk yardage and can score at will. Even though he was initially only a deep threat, as he grew, his abilities grew as well. At this point, Wallace is still an elite deep threat, but also can run crisp routes underneath, has amazing hands, and can break tackles and get yards after the catch. It is safe to say Wallace can do pretty much anything a WR would need to do in a west coast offense. In addition, Wallace has never missed a game in his career, so he won't have many injury issues. Finally, Wallace is a young WR, so he will be able to grow with Ryan Tannehill as they both develop together, and Wallace doesn't have an history of character problems like Marshall did.
Mike Wallace is a very talented WR, so he is bound to cost the team quite a lot. The team will most likely have to sacrifice draft picks and players to obtain him, as well as give him the payday he desires. There are some ways the Dolphins can give both the Steelers and Mike Wallace what they want. The Dolphins currently have a logjam at the TE position. Anthony Fasano is currently the starter, but has not had many shining moments in training camp, while his backups, Charles Clay, Micheal Egnew and Les Brown, have. Fasano is not the receiving TE the Dolphins want, but is more of a power blocking TE. Charles Clay and Micheal Egnew both are capable of starting at the TE spot for the Phins, making Fasano expendable. Fasano also carries a very hefty $4.5 million cap hit. The Dolphins are currently about $1 million under the cap. Steelers' new OC Todd Haley is also known for utilizing his TEs for blocking and having multiple TEs out at once. Unfortunately, The Steelers have little talent at TE behind Heath Miller. Because of this, they could use a player like like Fasano. So, Fasano is part one of the trade, but we will need more. I think a 2013 2nd round pick and a 2014 3rd rd pick would be enough alongside Fasano. The Dolphins have two 3rd rd picks next year, so losing the effect of losing the 2nd rd pick is softened. And Wallace's production will more than make up for the losses. Now, for his pay, he has said he wants a big contract, and, by trading Fasano, the Dolphins will be able to give him what he wants. Losing Fasano would increase our cap room to $5.5 million, which can all be spent on Wallace this year, in addition to that, a large signing bonus and a pay raise in year two should satisfy him. The Dolphins currently have around $60 million available for next year, meaning The Dolphins can give him a pay raise to about $7-8 million for next year, and then an even higher raise to $10 million the following year, and then keep it level for the 4th year, 5th year and so on. This will give him the pay he wants, and will keep him around.
Now, how will Wallace fit into the Dolphins system. Well, for this exercise, I will compare the Dolphins WRs to those on the Packers, HC Joe Philbin's former team. Two easy fits are Legedu Naanee and Brian Hartline. It is safe to assume that Naanee will play the role Jordy Nelson did, of the big, speedy playmaking WR, while Hartline fits the James Jones mold of a matchup destroying WR of the bench. That leaves Greg Jennings and Donald Driver. If Wallace is traded for, I am assuming Chad Johnson is cut in order to keep emerging playmakers Roberto Wallace and Julius Pruitt as the 5th and 6th WRs on the team. Davone Bess brings the same kind of reliability and veteran presence that Driver does for the Packers, so Bess can fit that role. That leaves the Greg Jennings speedy, crisp routed playmaker. Currently, Chad Johnson can fit that role, but isn't really a dominant playmaker anymore. This is where Mike Wallace would come in, he is young, a playmaker and has a lot of speed. In the west coast offense, slants, post routes, curls and out routes are used most often, in order to open things up for the big deep play. Wallace is a great deep threat, YAC threat and route runner, so he can help with both aspects of our west coast passing game. I think Mike Wallace can be a dominant playmaker for the phins, and that it is possible for us to get him. Thanks for reading and be sure to comment below with your opinions. Make sure you check back every day for phins training camp reports.
Mike Wallace, age 25, was drafted in the 3rd round of the 2009 draft by the Pittsburgh Steelers. At first, he was used exclusively as a deep threat, simply running the "go" route every time he was on the field. As he gained experience, his role with the team increased, to the point that he is currently the Steelers' no. 1 WR and was named to the 2011 pro bowl. With a career 18.7 YPC average, he is a dynamic playmaker that can get you plenty of yards. In addition, he has a career average of 8 TDs per season, while former Dolphin Brandon Marshall only averaged 5.6 TDs per season. This shows that he can be threat to both get chunk yardage and can score at will. Even though he was initially only a deep threat, as he grew, his abilities grew as well. At this point, Wallace is still an elite deep threat, but also can run crisp routes underneath, has amazing hands, and can break tackles and get yards after the catch. It is safe to say Wallace can do pretty much anything a WR would need to do in a west coast offense. In addition, Wallace has never missed a game in his career, so he won't have many injury issues. Finally, Wallace is a young WR, so he will be able to grow with Ryan Tannehill as they both develop together, and Wallace doesn't have an history of character problems like Marshall did.
Mike Wallace is a very talented WR, so he is bound to cost the team quite a lot. The team will most likely have to sacrifice draft picks and players to obtain him, as well as give him the payday he desires. There are some ways the Dolphins can give both the Steelers and Mike Wallace what they want. The Dolphins currently have a logjam at the TE position. Anthony Fasano is currently the starter, but has not had many shining moments in training camp, while his backups, Charles Clay, Micheal Egnew and Les Brown, have. Fasano is not the receiving TE the Dolphins want, but is more of a power blocking TE. Charles Clay and Micheal Egnew both are capable of starting at the TE spot for the Phins, making Fasano expendable. Fasano also carries a very hefty $4.5 million cap hit. The Dolphins are currently about $1 million under the cap. Steelers' new OC Todd Haley is also known for utilizing his TEs for blocking and having multiple TEs out at once. Unfortunately, The Steelers have little talent at TE behind Heath Miller. Because of this, they could use a player like like Fasano. So, Fasano is part one of the trade, but we will need more. I think a 2013 2nd round pick and a 2014 3rd rd pick would be enough alongside Fasano. The Dolphins have two 3rd rd picks next year, so losing the effect of losing the 2nd rd pick is softened. And Wallace's production will more than make up for the losses. Now, for his pay, he has said he wants a big contract, and, by trading Fasano, the Dolphins will be able to give him what he wants. Losing Fasano would increase our cap room to $5.5 million, which can all be spent on Wallace this year, in addition to that, a large signing bonus and a pay raise in year two should satisfy him. The Dolphins currently have around $60 million available for next year, meaning The Dolphins can give him a pay raise to about $7-8 million for next year, and then an even higher raise to $10 million the following year, and then keep it level for the 4th year, 5th year and so on. This will give him the pay he wants, and will keep him around.
Now, how will Wallace fit into the Dolphins system. Well, for this exercise, I will compare the Dolphins WRs to those on the Packers, HC Joe Philbin's former team. Two easy fits are Legedu Naanee and Brian Hartline. It is safe to assume that Naanee will play the role Jordy Nelson did, of the big, speedy playmaking WR, while Hartline fits the James Jones mold of a matchup destroying WR of the bench. That leaves Greg Jennings and Donald Driver. If Wallace is traded for, I am assuming Chad Johnson is cut in order to keep emerging playmakers Roberto Wallace and Julius Pruitt as the 5th and 6th WRs on the team. Davone Bess brings the same kind of reliability and veteran presence that Driver does for the Packers, so Bess can fit that role. That leaves the Greg Jennings speedy, crisp routed playmaker. Currently, Chad Johnson can fit that role, but isn't really a dominant playmaker anymore. This is where Mike Wallace would come in, he is young, a playmaker and has a lot of speed. In the west coast offense, slants, post routes, curls and out routes are used most often, in order to open things up for the big deep play. Wallace is a great deep threat, YAC threat and route runner, so he can help with both aspects of our west coast passing game. I think Mike Wallace can be a dominant playmaker for the phins, and that it is possible for us to get him. Thanks for reading and be sure to comment below with your opinions. Make sure you check back every day for phins training camp reports.
I love this move we have to make this happen a move like this can really put us back in the picture please Jeff make this move ........!!!! # 1dolphins fan 4life
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