Top o' the Morning to You and a Happy St. Patrick's Day

"If you're lucky enough to be Irish ...

you're lucky enough."

St. Patrick is no doubt wondering, like the rest of us Steelers' fans, whether Mike Wallace will be in Black 'n Gold this year.  

When Joey Porter's Pit Bulls saw reports of the big free agency deals given to wide receivers Vincent Jackson and Pierre Garcon the past few days, we blanched and said, "Faith 'n begorrah, sure as a shamrock, Mike Wallace's days as a Steeler are behind us."

Now, however, a few days later, no other team has stepped forward with an offer, so far as we know.  Wallace remains a Steeler.

Mike Wallace: About to haul in mucho moolah.

It could be that teams not named the Washington Redskins are reluctant to part with a first-round draft choice, which the Steelers would receive if Wallace takes another team's offer.  Still, the difference in money between what the Steelers plan to pay Wallace ($2.742 million) this year as a restricted free agent and what he is (still) likely to be offered by another team ... well, that difference is vast and great.  

Granted, the Steelers would have the right to match any offer.  One is still likely to come in before the April 20 deadline, as noted in this excellent piece by CBS Sportsline's Clark Judge.

Still a Stiller, but for how long?

How much money are we talking about?  ESPN's Jamison Hensley offers an excellent analysis of the pay scale established this off-season for some of Wallace's peers.  If he were truly a free agent, rather than a restricted free agent, Wallace would probably get about $22 million over the next two years.  

Wallace, who is 25, may not get $22 million, but he almost surely will receive an offer worth considerably more than $2.742 million.  The Steelers will have a decision to make.

It must be nice to be Mike Wallace.  On that note ... 

An Irishman walks into a pub in a small town in Ireland and orders three beers. The man takes the beers to a table where he sits alone and polishes them off in about an hour. He gets up, orders three more and does the same thing. Another hour later, he gets one more round of three, drinks them and leaves.
 

This scene repeats itself the next evening and then the next, and pretty soon this pub is abuzz about the man they're now calling Mr. Three Beers. When he comes in again, the bartender's curiosity is overwhelming, and he asks his new favorite customer what the deal is.

The man replies that he has two brothers who are no longer in Ireland, they're worlds apart, and they all vowed that each would order an extra two beers whenever one of them went drinking to keep the brotherly bond.

The bartender and the tavern regulars bought the story, admiring the brotherly love, and Mr. Three Beers became a pub favorite.

But one day he came in and ordered only two beers. The bartender poured them and the pub crawlers took immediate notice, thinking the worst -- that one of the brothers had passed away. This went on for several days.

One day, finally, the bartender haltingly offered his condolences on behalf of himself and the pub regulars. The man thanked him for the thoughtfulness but said his two brothers were alive and well.

So what's with ordering only two beers? the barkeep asked.

"It's Lent," the man replied. "And I, myself, have decided to give up drinking until Easter."

The Mike Wallace Waiting Game

Moving on to Chicago? New England? Cincinnati?  Baltimore?  San Francisco? Washington?

Now the Steelers wait.  By deciding to withhold the franchise tag on Mike Wallace, the Steelers have placed their bet on losing Wallace to free agency -- possibly to New England, Baltimore, Cincinnati, Chicago, San Francisco or another team with salary cap flexibility, first-round draft choice and money to spend.

Wallace, who is "Fast Money" in the Steelers' Young Money trio of receivers -- will be getting Big Money.

Rather than bidding against themselves and setting the market for Wallace, the Steelers are going to let other teams bid against each other and set a price that the Steelers will have the opportunity to match.

As general manager Kevin Colbert said on Steelers.com, "He could get an offer from another team, but ultimately we get to make the decision on Mike."

Dicey, and a calculated risk.  The odds are fairly good that another team will make Fast Money a BIG MONEY offer that the Steelers will decide they just cannot match.

Beginning next Tuesday, March 13, offers to Wallace will start to come in from other teams.  If the Steelers choose not to match, they will lose Wallace and receive, in turn, the signing team's first-round draft choice.

One team in the running for Wallace could well be, gack!, New England, which owns two first-round draft picks and six picks in the first three rounds. The Patriots need a deep threat. They just applied the franchise tag to Wes Welker, however, so they now have a lot of cap space tied up at the receiver position already.  Another option for the Patriots is free agent wide receiver Brandon Lloyd, who has already expressed an interest in playing for New England and reuniting with offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, who was head coach in Denver while Lloyd was with the Broncos.  Llloyd, however, is not nearly the deep threat Wallace is.

Wallace going to New England would be a worst-case scenario, matched only by the possibility of Wallace going to Baltimore.  The Ravens last week signed running back Ray Rice to a big-money contract, however, and are working on a new deal for quarterback Joe Flacco, so they may not be able to afford Wallace.  Or they might go after him just to jerk the Steelers around.

Another AFC North Division rival, Cincinnati, presumably could afford Wallace.  The Bengals are $60 million under the cap and already have one of the best young receivers in the game, A.J. Green. Bengals fans must be drooling at the possibility of seeing Green paired with Wallace.  It could happen.  Like the Patriots, the Bengals have two first-round draft choices.  There's almost no reason for the Bengals not to make an offer to Wallace, except ... they're the Bengals.

Paydirt!

Another team with cap space and a need at wide receiver is the Chicago Bears. This team worries Joey Porter's Pit Bulls.  The Bears have cap space, a glaring need at wide receiver and must do something splashy to stay competitive with NFC North rival Green Bay.  The Minnesota Vikings are in that category, too, although they need to rebuild from the ground up, so signing Wallace may not make as much sense for the Vikings as it would for the Bears.

San Francisco would be a great match for Wallace, too, and the 49ers also have a glaring need at receiver, as do the Washington Redskins.

New Orleans is a dark-horse candidate to sign Wallace, who is a native of the Big Easy.  The Saints have other big problems just now, however, including the task of signing franchise quarterback Drew Brees and All-Pro guard Carl Nicks.  Having let receivers Marques Colston and Robert Meachem hit free agency, the Saints have a need at wide receiver.  If they cannot sign Brees, which seems unthinkable, they will have money to spend.  And it is Wallace's hometown. 

It's going to take Big Money to sign Fast Money.

One saving grace for the Steelers is that this is a deep year for wide receivers in free agency, including Vincent Jackson, Reggie Wayne, Pierre Garcon, Marques Colston, Brandon Lloyd, Mario Manningham, Robert Meachem, Laurent Robinson, Josh Morgan, Plaxico Burress and -- gasp!  say it ain't so-- Hines Ward.  We didn't just say that, did we?

Wallace is the best of the bunch, however, and more than one team will bid for his services and drive up his price. Complicating the situation for the Steelers is the pending contract situation, next off-season, for fellow receivers Antonio Brown ("Fast Money") and Emanuel Sanders ("Easy Money").

So much for sentiment.

The Steelers' purge/makeover/transformation continues, then, and may not be over.  Fare thee well, Hines Ward, Aaron Smith and James Farrior -- great players, all -- and, uh, oh yeah, you too, Chris Kemoeatu.  Good luck to all, and thanks for the memories.

It's going to be tough not having those guys around anymore.

Let's just hope Mike Wallace doesn't join the group of departures.

Big Ben Chimes Thirty

For whom the Ben tolls:  Today, March 2, is Ben Roethlisberger's 30th birthday.  Imagine that.  Happy birthday.

This isn't how we wanted it to end, either, Hines.

"This isn't how I wanted this chapter of my career to end,'' Hines Ward said in a statement.

Neither did we, Hines; neither did we.

"I want to thank the organization, my teammates and coaches and everyone who made my run as a Steeler the best years of my life. To Mr. Rooney, thank you for allowing me to play for one of the greatest organizations in the world. To my fans and in particular, Steeler Nation, thank you for your support and all the great memories."

No, thank you, Hines; many thanks.

Joey Porter's Pit Bulls remember being thrilled when the Steelers selected Hines in the third round of the 1998 draft.  We'd seen him shine as a wide receiver/running back/quarterback/kick returner in college, especially in the 1997 Georgia-Florida game, which he took over and more or less won single-handedly.  At the time, we said, "Now, that's a football player.  That guy would look great in black 'n gold."

He was, and he did.  Ward's game was never about pure speed, but he had enough speed for 1,000 receptions, 85 touchdowns and 14 years (so far) in the NFL. 

Hines Ward's game was about leadership, productivity, reliability, clutch catches, blocking, finding open spots on the field, setting an example and finding the end zone.  He did all of the above, and arguably did all of them better and longer than any receiver in Steelers history.  Not to mention what he did off the field, both within the Steelers' organization and for various humanitarian causes, charities and civic organizations. 

This ain't no obituary, but we'll miss you, Hines.  Best wishes for continued success.

Hines Ward is an all-time great Steeler and deserves to be inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame.