Jason La Canfora over at CBS Sports continues to push a report that indicates the Miami Dolphins are looking to trade high-priced veteran wide receiver Mike Wallace. While it makes sense in theory, there is a small thing that might hold up a trade…no one is going to trade for that guy.
Wallace signed a five-year, $60 million contract with the Miami Dolphins last offseason, a deal that gave him $27 million in guaranteed money. On top of that, Wallace boasts a ridiculous $17.25 million cap hit this season. That’s what happens when an ill-advised general manager signs a veteran to a deal with $27 million guaranteed and back loads it to where the first-year cap hit is just over $3 million. (All contract information provided by Spotrac.com).
Outside of Wallace’s ridiculous contract, he simply isn’t a great NFL receiver. The veteran put up 73 receptions for 930 yards and five scores last season. Inconsistency was a major issue, as Wallace put up less than 40 receiving yards in half of his outings in South Beach.
According to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), Wallace put up the lowest catch percentage of any receiver on the Dolphins at just over 53 percent. He also dropped 11 passes, which tied for the fifth-highest mark in the league.
During his days with the Steelers, Wallace was considered one of the best deep threats in the National Football League. Despite this, he caught just 17 percent of the passes thrown to him that traveled more than 20 yards in the air. For comparison’s sake, Brian Hartline, who is considered a possession receiver, put up a 40 percent catch rate on similar targets.
Simply put, Wallace just isn’t that good of a receiver.
Miami is now looking to rectify the mistake that it made under former general manager Jeff Ireland. Its thought process makes a lot of sense and you simply cannot blame the new front office for looking to trade him.
Evan Mathis and DeSean Jackson for Mike Wallace and Cam Wake. Do it.
— Eric Edholm (@Eric_Edholm) March 26, 2014
Unfortunately, no team is going to pick up that contract for a marginal receiver.
Short of Wallace completely redoing his deal to move on from the Dolphins, it appears that the two are stuck together for the long haul. He still has a little less than $22 million in guaranteed money left on his deal.
While teams like the Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers could use Wallace’s talents, they’re not going to pony up a draft pick and take on that deal right now. The most likely scenario for a trade would be if Wallace were to excel with the Dolphins in 2014, at which point they could look to move him with just $6.5 million of guaranteed money remaining on his deal.
Until then, it’s not going to happen.
Mike Wallace trade rumors might seem logical on the surface, but they’re about as likely as Jim Harbaugh coaching the Calgary Stampeders next season.
Photo: Mike Carter, USA Today