Now that Steelers coach Mike Tomlin has signed, is WR Mike Wallace on deck?
And then there was one left unsigned: Mike Wallace.
The Steelers have attended to their usual pre-training camp contractual chores. They signed first-round G David DeCastro Monday (first-rounders are no guarantee in this town; fellow Stanford Cardinal Mark Appel, a first-round pitcher, turned down the Pirates a week earlier). They announced Tuesday, in a routine move for the Steelers the past two decades, the contract extension of a head coach with two years remaining on his deal, Mike Tomlin.
That left the wily WR Wallace, who missed June camp having opted not to sign the $2.742 million tender.
Wallace could well be announced Wednesday at camp's start as the latest, and last, signee of the 2012 team. Such camp-opening contract pronouncements are also relatively routine moves for this club.
Wallace's representatives and Steelers officials have spent months working toward a long-term contract. Social media was aquiver Tuesday afternoon -- did a Pittsburgh television station and/or Steelers-beat blogger report a 5-year, $42 million deal for Wallace? The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review tweeted that no contract was in place.
Wallace's signature, at some point, seems a formality -- much like the new, three-year extension for Tomlin, extending the 55-25 coach through 2016. The Steelers have extended coaches with two years remaining almost regularly the past generation.
Tomlin, 40, who at Super Bowl XLIII became the youngest coach to win the big game, will officially begin his sixth season as an NFL coach when camp opens Wednesday at St. Vincent College in Latrobe, Pa. He steered the Steelers to two Super Bowls in his first four years.
In a news release, Steelers president Art Rooney II said Tomlin is returning for "at least" five more years.
“I am excited that I will continue to be the head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers for years to come,” Tomlin said in the release. “I am grateful to the Steelers organization for the opportunity I have been given over the past five years to work and live in this great city, and I am excited to continue to work to bring another championship to the Steelers and the city of Pittsburgh.”
