Baltimore Ravens: Mike Wallace Next on Team’s Radar?
By Joe Serpico
Free agent wide receiver Mike Wallace is scheduled to visit with the Baltimore Ravens, but contract negotiations could be a problem for both sides.
The Baltimore Ravens have a need for speed on the outside. Mike Wallace needs a new team. It’s a match made in heaven. So why hasn’t the former Viking, Dolphin and Steeler inked a deal with the Ravens?
It’s all about the Benjamin’s, and so far, the two sides haven’t come to an agreement on financial terms. Wallace was scheduled to make $11.5 million for the Minnesota Vikings prior to his release, a number that Baltimore has no interest in. The Ravens are paying Steve Smith $3 million in 2016, and that’s the salary range that the organization would like to offer to bring in Wallace.
Wallace is scheduled to visit Baltimore and typically the Ravens do not let free agents leave without signing a deal. What is more rewarding to the Ravens is that signing Wallace would not cost Baltimore a compensatory pick as he was released by Minnesota. We know how much Ozzie Newsome values his compensatory picks.
Wallace failed to become the dominant playmaker that was expected of him when he left the Steelers for Miami. He signed a five-year, $60 million deal in 2013, but has not posted numbers that warrant that type of contract. He failed reach 1,000 yards in the last three seasons, and two teams have given up on him in a little over a year.
He is coming off a season in which he posted the worst numbers of his seven year career. He caught 39 passes for 473 yards and two touchdowns with Teddy Bridgewater as his quarterback. Bridgewater does not have the arm strength to use Wallace effectively, which limited his success. Pairing Wallace with Joe Flacco‘s cannon of an arm would be a legitimate threat on every play.
This is all contingent on whether the two parties can agree on the compensation. Eric Weddle, the top free agent available, joined the organization Monday, and will take away a significant portion of the Ravens cap space.
Wallace is next on the Ravens to-do list. The all-to-familiar phrases coming out of Baltimore is that they will add Wallace if the price is right. Wallace needs to accept that he needs Baltimore and the team needs him.
Plus, we already know he does not look too shabby in purple.