...

Considering Wallace turned down an offer from Pittsburgh that trumped the five-year, $55.5 million deal Vincent Jackson got from Tampa Bay as an unrestricted free agent last offseason, expect a contract being placed on a table that pays Wallace in the range of $60 million or $12 million a season during unauthorized contract negotiations at this week's NFL combine.

If the sticker price for this two-time Pro Bowler scares you, please calm down and consider the Dolphins paid Jake Long that type of money ($57.5 million over five seasons), and he didn't even score touchdowns.

Is Wallace worth $12 million a season?

...

What happens to Wallace once $24-30 million is guaranteed on his next deal? The Steelers clearly know something because teams rarely let a player of his caliber get away with no strings attached.

Dolphins fans better hope that if Miami does end up going the Wallace route he'll perform like an exotic ride because there is no lemon law protection when it comes to top shelf free agency.

I'm just having a hard time seeing Miami commit to that deal. I know its what they need, but I can't get past the idea of Jennings for less (familiarity, character, ability to run all routes).

"Multiple sources tell the Sun-Sentinel Steelers receiver Mike Wallace, who won't be given the franchise tag by the Steelers this offseason, is the team's top target."

Assuming the sources are in the know, it seems Dolphins are ready to pony up the cash to get Wallace.

The Miami Herald agrees that Mike Wallace will be the Dolphins' "priority" in free agency.
Beat writer Armando Salguero has been reporting as such for weeks. Salguero expects the Dolphins to "touch base" with the reps for Wallace and Greg Jennings at the Combine, but believes Jennings is only a fallback option. GM Jeff Ireland has rarely pursued big-ticket free agents — and has struck out when he has — but the evidence he's planning a run at Wallace is bordering on overwhelming.

Wallace will demand double coverage and will open up the rest of the offense. Less pressure on the O-Line, more opportunities for the running and the underneath passing game.

I figured it would be in that range, top FA's are expensive, specially when they are only 26...

We are in need of more than 1 WR as well...

We are in need of more than 1 WR as well...

For A LOT less. I agree.

It's easy to think about it in terms of, "they have 46 million in cap space," and so we can afford it...but 60 million over the long haul is going to be a huge strain. Is he worth draining 10% of the cap by himself longterm?

But you're OK with a mediocre cornerback draining $10 million in cap space this year.

Say Wallace gets the 5 year, $60 million deal, first of all he isn't going to drain 10% of your cap space if you structure the deal as such:

$12 million signing bonus:

Amortizes to $2.4 million in cap each season.

$24 million in guarantees:

Half of that is the signing bonus, the rest is workout bonuses and roster bonuses in the last two years.

Base salary is $36 million over 5 years.

2013 - $5 mil
2014 - $6.5 mil
2015 - $7 mil
2016 - $8.5 mil
2017 - $9 mil

Workout bonuses of $300K a year = $1.5 million

That leaves another 10.5 mil in guarantees

$4 million roster bonus in 2016
$6.5 million roster bonus in 2017

If he isn't performing at the level we expect, you cut him in 2016 and open up some cap room. This is really a 3 year contract with a team option for a 4th or 5th year.

It's all about how the contract is structured. He'll cost $7 mil in cap space in year one and $9 mil in years 2 and 3.

That was where the Brandon Marshal experiment failed. First, we had a mediocre QB throwing him the ball, but we also had no one of value for the defense to respect either, at receiver or tight end.\

There's a huge difference between a 1 year hit when you have the room Miami has, and taking the consistent hit over a number of years; years in which you don't know what the rest of your cap situation will look like, and you may very well have to make concessions on other players partly because of it.

Then get 'er done.

But how often do we talk about signing Free Agents to big money, and structuring their contracts so that the cap hit is reasonable like this? Every....year. And it doesn't exactly get done often.
There's competition for his services. Somebody, even if for a little less than the BS "total" number on the contract, is going to offer Mike Wallace an attractive contract that isn't structured the team-friendly way you have it.

If they can get it done for that, great. But with (I would assume) several other teams serious for his services, I'm not sure that will be the case.

Well the local reports, citing team sources, are saying Ross wants Wallace and is willing to open up the pocket book to get it and that Wallace is the top priority.

Remember, this is a guy who has missed out on two high profile coaches and a high profile QB.

He has tried to make moves to put butts in the seats and I think he will continue trying to do so.