Mike Wallace getting interest from teams (no surprise)

While Dolphins fans have been debating the pros and cons of adding the major talent and major salary burden Mike Wallace brings, it is clear teams around the NFL don't need to weigh such issues.

They like Wallace.

And that's why, according to a league source, I'm told multiple teams are showing interest in Wallace and it started "well before midnight," meaning the time teams are officially allowed to make overtures to Wallace's agent.

Then there is this:

An NFL agent which I trust but does not represent Wallace told me early Saturday that he has it on good authority the New England Patriots are one of the teams showing some interest in the prospective Pittsburgh Steelers free agent.

Let that marinate for a moment.

You may recall I included the Patriots on the list of teams that could potentially be interested in signing him. This despite the fact the Patriots have not previously been prone to making splashy free agency moves.

Now, before you commit violence against yourself or the computer screen, understand the perspective here. Showing interest does not mean a contract is imminent. It doesn't not even mean\ a contract is being discussed. It might be just a phone call to gauge Wallace's interest and feel him out.

So this is only initial.

As to the Dolphins interest, I cannot confirm that officially. The club has locked up tightly. The club has also told agents not to speak with the Miami media or disclose information to the Miami media.

But I would be very, very, very surprised if the Dolphins also weren't one of those teams that at minimum are showing interest in Mike Wallace.

Comments

[Ryan]

Hey everyone Diehard Fins fan here. Pleas check out my Miami dolphins blog. We just recently updated a 7 round mock draft. I can't really use your support.

Www.finhead.blogspot.com

[Ryan]

Sorry for the typo. I can*** really use the support.

[Yesterday's Gone 4Ever!]

I was virtually called nuts by some bloggers here when I mentioned this as soon as Brady restructured. Also virtually called nuts that Cincy should be a strong suitor to have a AJ Green/Mike Wallace combo. Hell, Cincy has even more money to make it so than we do.

I only hope with John Clayton repeated casts of Wallace to the Dolphins, plants a oh so powerful subliminal seed into Wallace, to sign on our dotted line.

I also wouldnt be surprised if the Wallace bidding war reaches 13-15 million to sign him. He's a very rare nfl commodity. He blows the top off of nfl d's while actually catching the ball a huge measure of the time.

[Yesterday's Gone 4Ever!]

Ryan,

Went to your site. After watching Patterson highlights, even if we signed Wallace, I would love the Patterson/Wallace combo. It would present defensive nightmares to opponents.

I would take Patterson #12, then pray Xavier Rhodes is still there first pick 2nd rd. Rhodes looks like Sean Smith with a brain in coverage and Vontae Davis vs the run game.

From your video, I absolutelt love how in coverage, when his back's to the qb. He "reads his safety" to know when to turn around and look for the football. When he sees his safety running towards his side, he figures the balls in the air because his safety is reading the qb. I never once saw Sean Smith do this.

[Yesterday's Gone 4Ever!]

If Patterson hadMike Wallace speed we would be talking 1st overall pick right now.

His strong suit seems to be explosiveness(not to be confused with straightline speed), physicallity(uses body to shield defender well), and unbelievable elusiveness(a big play always waiting to happen).

Also displays better than average tackle breaking ability.

[Matthew]

Belicheat's interest in Wallace is probably more to do with making Wes Welker jealous and homesick than to any legitimate interest.

When you get dumped by a girl you're better off dating her best friend then standing out front of her house with a boom box playing "In Your Eyes."

[Darkoak]

Pats are trying to improve like every other team in the NFL, I'd be surprised if they didn't have interest in Wallace. Not really news and not rocket science to guess at.

[EMILIO]

CHANCE WARMACK

[Rob in OC]

Yes to Chance!

Hmmm, ...is Wally World coming to Miami??

Cheers,

[Rob in OC]

Note to Ireland...Get WR Markus Wheaton!...AND WR Quinton Patton!!!

Cheers,

[I Respect You, Madame]

I love when YG sashays around town in her petticoat and twirls her parasol to attract gentlemen callers.

Yesterday's Gone is a TRUE lady that you could all take lessons from.

[klndry]

Hey Mr Wallace
Wanna make 5 million and year and stay with a consistent winner? I know that everyone else is offering 10 million a year but they aren't guaranteed to win. Pats offer.
It all depends on what he wants to do. Make a lot of money and play football. Or make a medium amount of money and win and play football.
I believe he is going to take the money.

[reg]

If you were mike Wallace where would you go- realistically due to teams salary cap etc????

[tpl]

Signing wallace is going to be a tall order with all the interest. More than likely Mimai will have to settle for Jennings. And if the pats sign Wallace, it becomes all the more imperative for Miami to sign a top Corner in free agency.

[Rob M]

Pats will get him.

[dadsmithwest]

All we can do is compete in FA for Wallace. We can't worry if the Pats or anyone else get Wallace. Don't think for a second though that Belicheat wouldn't love to jack up the price on Wallace and walk away. Ireland must have an amount in mind that he won't go past.

[scottbibs]

f it come down to dolphins and pats pats will get him, and most likely offer more money, Ireland is cheap unless you are our back up QB

[MIADOLFAN207]

THAT'S EXCELLENT FOR MIKE WALLACE TO PLAY FOR THE N.E. PATRIOTS. GREG JENNINGS WILL BE A MIAMI DOLPHIN. WE'LL HAVE THREE GREAT ROUTE RUNNERS (JENNINGS, HARTLINE, & BESS). TEXAS A&M WR RYAN SWOPES WILL BE A MIAMI DOLPHIN IN THE 2ND ROUND. FSU.CB XAVIER RHODES WILL BE A MIAMI DOLPHIN IN THE 2ND ROUND.

[dadsmithwest]

I guess the amount in my mind is 12 mil per season that Ireland shouldn't go past. If you are intent on Wallace which I am not. Give me Jennings, Winston and the Bennett brothers at TE and DE. The rest we'll get in the draft.

[I Respect You, Madame]

If you were mike Wallace where would you go- realistically due to teams salary cap etc????

Posted by: reg | March 09, 2013 at 04:45 AM

------------------------------------------

I would be attracted by the jobless, devil-may-care scent of Yesterday's Gone.

He smells like a gin-soaked New Orleans breeze. Languid, shiftless, and without a care in thw world.

I admire his unproductive and thoroughly unremarkable existence as a human being.

[jt]

Holy Effing Christ! LOL!!! I don't even care after reading that! Good Lord.

[dadsmithwest]

It was a pleasant surprise to see Moore quietly resigned. He is a good back up and good team guy. I wonder if he could be traded at some point. Let's see if there are any teams call if their star QB fails or goes down for the year.

I wonder what other surprises there are out there in FA. Some good some bad I'm sure.

[corners]

Wallace wasnt taking less money with the Steelers, doubt he takes less with the pats.Steelers were contenders, so i dont see it.

[corners]

"I would take Patterson #12, then pray Xavier Rhodes is still there first pick 2nd rd.

"

Rhodes might be gone before we even pick with #12. He wont be there in the 20's even

[corners]

"I never once saw Sean Smith do this.
"

Until last year Smith never had a good safety he could rely on.

[MIADOLFAN207]

GREG JENNINGS HAS MORE VALUE THAN MIKE WALLACE AT A BARGAIN PRICE. MIKE WALLACE IS A VERTICAL ROUTE RUNNER. GREG JENNINGS IS A WAY MORE POLISHED ROUTE RUNNER WHO CAN ALSO RUN VERTICALLY. JERRY RICE WASN'T A BLOW THE TOP OFF A DEFENSE RECEIVER, RICE RAN EXCELLENT ROUTE AND BECAUSE TEAMS RESPECTED HIS ABILITY TO PRECISE UNDERNEATH ROUTES, THEY NEVER KNEW WHEN HE WAS ABOUT TO RUN A ROUTE VERTICALLY. THAT'S WHY BRIAN HARTLINE WAS ABLE TO EXPOSE SOME DEFENSIVE BACKS WHENEVER HE DID RUN A VERTICAL ROUTE. WES WELKER DOESN'T HAVE BLOW THE TOP OFF A DEFENSE SPEED EITHER BUT BECAUSE HE RUNS PRECISE UNDERNEATH ROUTES, HE'S ABLE TO EXPOSE SOME DEFENSIVE BACKS WHENEVER HE RUNS DEEP.

[promichael]

Armando,
The Dolphins seem to be motivated to the point that they will give Wallace the third highest contract amoung WR’s. That said paying more for Wallace could keep the Dolphins from getting a top FA tight end that they also need. If Wallace is smart he will go with the Patriots for less money. Then the Dolphins will most likely go into a contingency plan and obtain Jennings another FA WR for less money. In my opinion the Patriots also have a dire need for the Wallace skill set to stretch the field.

[Ryan]

@ yesterday's gone- thanks a lot for checking out the site. I would love Patterson down here, but I wouldn't be surprised at all if the sorry Jets were to draft him. Unless they're going to start Cromartie at receiver all they have is Santonio. As far as Rhodes goes, I think we need to snag him in the first. I don't think there is a chance in hell he falls to pick 12 in round 2, especially how he ran his 40. Sean Smith took terrible angles to the ball and got burned by allowing the most first downs in the nfl last year. I know we need receivers guys, but we need corners just as much maybe even more.

[jpao]

tick, tick, tick, tick.....count down to Tuesday 4:00 is on!

Like the resigning of Hartline, Moore and Starks.

But Tuesday is when the real show begins.....

[dadsmithwest]

Ryan Swope would be a great pick in the second round no matter which WR we get if any in FA. Someone on Irelands staff needs to pound the table for that guy. I don't think we'll be able to get him with the later 2nd round pick though and why chance it for guys you really like?

Example..D. Moore is my pick in the 1st at 12. Regardless how low he is ranked by the draft gurus now after his awful combine.

[MIADOLFAN207]

TED GINN JR. HAVE THAT BLOW THE TOP OFF A DEFENSE SPEED BUT IT DOESN'T MEAN ANYTHING IF YOU'RE NOT AN EXCELLENT ROUTE RUNNER. MIKE WALLACE WILL HAVE ALOT OF SUCCESS IN NEW ENGLAND BECAUSE HE'LL BE CATCHING MAJORITY OF THE BALLS UNDERNEATH FIRST! THEN THE VERTICAL PASSES THROWN TO HIM. THE OFFENSE THAT THE MIAMI DOLPHINS PRESENT IS A WEST COAST OFFENSE THAT'S NOT DESIGNED FOR ONE PARTICULAR RECEIVER TO GET THE FOOTBALL ALL OF THE TIME. WHY WOULD YOU THAT KIND OF MONEY TO A PLAYMAKER WHO'S NOT GETTING HIS MONEY WORTH. NEXT THING YOU KNOW YOU'LL HAVE A TEAM DISTURBANCE IN THE LOCKER ROOM. THAT'S WHY BRANDON MARSHALL WAS RELEASED BECAUSE OF THE SELFISHNESS. CHAD JOHNSON WOULD HAVE BEEN THE SAME WAY. GREG JENNINGS IS A TEAM PLAYER. GO AHEAD AND SIGN JENNINGS TO THREE OR FOUR YEAR CONTRACT FOR 8EIGHT MILLION PER SEASON.

[dadsmithwest]

I'm with you MIADOLFAN give me the proven #1 WR Jennings over the maybe gamble of Wallace being the #1. Jennings has personal ties and a desire to be in Miami. The only reason Wallace comes here is for the money. Wallace just seems too much of a risk to succeed with the high expectations that come with that high pay.

[MIADOLFAN207]

THIS MIAMI DOLPHINS COACHING STAFF IS DEVELOPING PLAYERS. BY SIGNING GREG JENNINGS YOU'LL HAVE A VETERAN RECEIVER WHOSE DEVELOPMENT WAS OBTAINED UNDER COACH JOE PHILBIN IN GREEN BAY. THAT ALSO ALLOWS YOU TO DRAFT TEXAS A&M WR RYAN SWOPES AND DEVELOP HIM UNDER THREE GREAT ROUTE RUNNERS (JENNINGS, HARTLINE, BESS). SWOPES WOULD FIT INTO THE DOLPHINS SYSTEM THAT HE ONCE PLAYED IN UNDER OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR MIKE SHERMAN AT TEXAS A&M WITH QB RYAN TANNEHILL.

[MIADOLFAN207]

TIGHT END MARTELLUS BENNETT (FMR. TEXAS A&M) WILL BE ANOTHER GOOD ADDITION TO THE TEAM AS WELL. GOOD RUN BLOCKER AND PASS CATCHER. ALL OF THE PIECES ARE THERE FOR THIS TEAM. GET THE JOB DONE.

[Frank from PA]

Dadsmith,

Reports are saying that Philbin is not a huge Jennings fan. That said- I hope the reports are false because if we dont land Wallace, we HAVE to acquire Jennings.

[dadsmithwest]

Not sure I believe any of that Philbin is not a fan of Wallace talk. Notice how quickly it came out after the Packers hinted at franchising Jennings. The Packers bluffed in my opinion and lost. I'm not convinced that Wallace is the top choice either for Ireland and Philbin. It makes my BS meter go off when I hear these rumors at this time of year.

[Sta8balla]

Any one wanting Jennings to be here needs there head examined. The Fins are already a bore and snore football team on offense. Do posters not realize Jennings is old and no longer has the speed to get vertical. He is injury prone and on the down side of his career.

Last thing we need is more possession wrs who can't separate or making any thing happen after the catch. We have enough of those on the roster as it is. We need two explosive wrs in Fins uniforms by training camp or we will once again sit and the bottom of the league in many important passing categories.

[JUSTIN CREDIBLE]

TED GIN?

HE DOESN't HAVE BLOW THE TOP OFF THE D SPEED.

HE HAS THAT BUILD UP SPEED.

HE NEEDS 20 YARDS TO GET TO TOP SPEED AND BY THEN EVERYONE ON THE FIELD KNOWS WHETRE HE's GOING.

SWOPES?

ARE WE BECOMING A&M?

I HOPE NOT THEY S U C K.

IF SWOPES WAS THERE AND AUSTIN HOPKINS HUNTER WAS THERE YOU WOULD TAKE SWOPES?

[Mike]

We need to sign him and draft Austin!! Can you imagine that duo coming at the opposing defense!?!?!

[Evan]

I was virtually called nuts by some bloggers here when I mentioned...

Posted by: Yesterday's Gone 4Ever! | March 09, 2013 at 02:30 AM

When you mentioned Sparano would be the hottest coach on the market.

When you mentioned Teo at 12

When you mentioned Stanz would be a steal (now the worst qb on the worst team in football)

The list goes on and on....

[Sta8balla]

Swoopes runs a good 40 at the combine an every one begins to circle jack the kid. He did play with that speed his entire career at A&M. Remeber..Hartline ran a pretty good 40 also. Would he be a number 1 on any where else outside of Miami? Swoopes skill set adds to what we already have. A group of slow...possession targets who offer no rac and don't stress a secondary.

[Sta8balla]

didn't ^

[dadsmithwest]

Love that A & M team that beat #1 Alabama this year. The only team to do so... I can't see how you can make a case they suck. They did so with across the board talent not because of luck. Yes give me Swope over Hopkins.

Actually, I am trying to figure out how we can add more A & M players in the draft and with all the ties from Sherman and T-Hill we have a leg up on knowing these guys. Don't surprised if we get a few of these guys.

1 Rd D. Moore
2 Rd R. Swope
2 Rd Best BPA CB/OT
3 Rd Best BPA CB/OT/LB
3 Rd C. Micheal RB
4 Rd S. Porter LB

[shula71]

This is how Belacheat ups the price for the fins. You think wild bill likes that we have all this money. Anything he can do to eat up press and money for the Dolphins is a plus for him.

Let the games begin. Miami should show some intrest in Welker. Tit for Tat. Go Dolphins!

[Aj]

NE can't even sign their own free agents..smoke screen

[JUSTIN CREDIBLE]

YOU USE ONE MINOR POINT TO USE IN YOUR ARGUMENT.

YEAH OK ANYGIVING DAY A TEAM CAN LOSE.

AND EVERY DOG HAS THEIR DAY.

BUT IF THEY PLAYED A BEST OUT OF 7 DO YOU REALLY THINK A&M WOULD WIN 4?

OR EVEN ANOTHER ONE?

THE DOLPHINS BEAT THE PATS TWO YEARS AGO.

DID THAT MAKE US THE BETTER TEAM?

[MIADOLFAN207]

IF YOU GO BACK TO SOME OF ARMANDO'S PREVIOUS BLOGS BEFORE THE COMBINE, YOU'LL SEE THAT I WAS ALREADY ON THE BANDWAGON. HE REMINDS ME OF WES WELKER AFTER HE CATCHES THE FOOTBALL. DO ANY OF Y'ALL THINK THAT JERRY RICE HAD OVER THE TOP OF A DEFENSE HEAD SPEED? IF YOU SAY YES, THEN YOU'RE CLUELESS ABOUT HIS ABILITIES. MIKE WALLACE ISN'T WORTH ALL OF THAT MONEY. HE HASN'T ACCOMPLISHED MORE THAN GREG JENNINGS. THE MIAMI DOLPHINS OFFENSE IS LACKING A VETERAN RECEIVER TO ADJUST TO CERTAIN COVERAGES THAT WILL ASSIST AN INEXPERIENCED QB IN RYAN TANNEHILL. HE CAN ALSO OFFER ADVICE TO THE YOUNGER TEAMMATE RECEIVERS. ALSO HE'S PLAYED UNDER ONE OF BEST QB'S IN AARON RODGERS. THAT A PLUS BECAUSE HE CAN OFFER QB RYAN TANNEHILL SOME POINTERS FROM AN EXPERIENCED, PROVEN QB THAT PLAYS IN A SIMILAR SYSTEM.

[MIADOLFAN207]

THE PATRIOTS HEAD COACH BILL BELICHICK ALSO LIKES TEXAS A&M WR RYAN SWOPES. I WOULDN'T BE SURPRISED IF HE PULLED THE TRIGGER ON HIM IN THE SECOND ROUND.

[dadsmithwest]

It easily makes the point I want guys that are proven winners, guys that put up good numbers and play their best against the best. Like I said before give me an all SEC draft.

I won't bother getting into the what ifs of playing a series of best of 7 games. If you want to make an analogy at least make one that is possible.

[Randy S]

Mike Wallace is Fool's Gold my friends. Fast..yes! Expensive...@#$% yes! Good route runner....no! Reliable hands....so so! Good for West Coast offense...NO! Keep this in mind friends...Wallace is just fast and he has decent "ok" hands. Heck, Ryan Swope ran nearly as fast as Wallace in the combine and so did several others. A fast WR with decent hands can be drafted in the 2nd or 3rd round for ALOT less money. It's no secret that we need 2 WRs, DE, TE, RG/RT, FS, and 2 CBs. That's 8 positions....good Lord I just realized how many that was. Anyway, if Wallace was Megatron then sure, sign him! But he isn't. He's just a fast WR with average hands that chew up a team's salary cap. Jennings is older, but a much better fit in WC offense and will be cheaper. For the price of Wallace, we could get Jennings and Cook. Throw in a free agent CB(not sure which one) for sure and we still have money to sign Fasano(TE), a RG(Levitre) and a FS(Clemons) if he's cheap enough. In an ideal world that's 6 of the 8 positions. Then, the first 5 draft picks can be DE, CB, WR, WR, and whatever. Certainly, I don't think we'll sign that many FAs, but it shows what we can do if we stay away from Fool's Gold. I would love to be able to draft a stud pass rusher, Rhodes(CB), a fast WR to stretch the field, Swope to replace Bess next year, and then whatever we need. Don't forget that we also have a supplemental pick coming for Langford that might be a 3rd or 4th. Ireland is pretty good at getting some talent in the back end of the draft. Hopefully he'll get the front end right this year like he has since Tuna left.

[Al]

I'm surprised not many of you mentioned Hopkins out of Clemson. The guy improved drastically every year in college(and two of those years playing opposite of Sammy Watkins). He had an incredible game against LSU in the bowl game(191 yards receiving) against a very good defense. He ran about a 4.48 on pro day.... big kid.... 6'1" 220+ lbs

[Kyle]

Only those easily brainwashed by the media and buzz words are enamored with Wallace. Oh he can pop the top...blah blah blah. He is merely a complimentary deep threat receiver, not a guy you invest all your marbles in by any means.

Save your money and get a better speed guy in the draft.

[Kyle]

Wallace can pop the top, open the field for your other receivers and running game, force the safeties off the line, blah blah blah...

Meanwhile, the Steelers with Wallace and a SB qb did not make the playoffs last year.

[dadsmithwest]

I'm good with Hopkins too but if I was choosing I select Swope of the two. It helped T-Hill a lot knowing the offense so that's going to help Swope with the transition and he already has chemistry/experience with T-Hill. The guy has the "it" factor. If you've watched him play and heard him interviewed you'd agree.

I wouldn't cry in my beer if we drafted Hopkins. He's SEC, put up great numbers and seems to have the "it" factor as well.

[benz]

will say it again, as a pre-emptive strike against a revolt.......prep for a whopper of a contract getting offered to Wallace......not just overpaying but seriously overpaying (whatever that ends up meaning)--which is fine with me......but the average salary/yr that the Fins are going to have to offer him to entice and outbid others is gonna be huge--dont burn down the building, storm the court, demand Irelands head, call them fools, etc.....etc--its coming but a big number is what its gonna take--deal with it.

[Granite State Phin Fan]

Wallace hit to NE cap would present problems in other areas for them. So bitter sweet if they do, their secondary is still a mess and Vollmer is a casualty.

[Cofo]

Signing Wallace for 11-12 mil is too much against our cap. Sign Jennings around 8-9. This gives us room to sign another impact player and our own free agents. We have around 24 mil to spend after draft pick money is taken out ( so I've heard). cutting Carpenter and Paterson could clear enought to resign Clemmons and maybe another cheap FA.

Wr - Jennings - 9mil
Cb - Cox - 6.5 mil
TE - Fasano 2.5 mil
OL - Winston 6 mil
This leaves holes only at CB, S, TE for the draft while we can still bolster OL and DE. I vote trade back in first and pick up another Second and we might get another 4th comp pick!
1 Eifert TE (pick20ish)
2 Rhodes CB
2 Cyprien S - that takes care of the glaring holes
2 Best Avail DE
3 Swope WR
3 Best Avail OL

What do you think?

[Kyle]

benz, don't buy into the hype. GM's are not crazy. The price on Wallace will go down, not up.

[Phin4Life]

I'd be happy with Boldin, Burress, and Clark.

[Kyle]

I predict Wallace will have his lowest TD catches in 2013. All this hype is going to make defenses focus that much more on him.