1:24pm: It will be a two-year, $11.5MM deal for Wallace and the Ravens, tweets ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
1:07pm: The Ravens have reached an agreement on a contract for wide receiver Mike Wallace, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter links). Rapoport, who first reported that the two sides were closing in on a deal, adds that Wallace has been on a visit in Baltimore since Monday.
The Vikings released Wallace last Tuesday when the two sides could not agree on a pay cut. During his first and only season in Minnesota, Wallace matched or set career-lows by catching just 39 balls for 473 yards and two touchdowns. However, he’s still just 29 years old, and put up decent numbers during his two-year stint in Miami from 2013 to 2014, averaging 70 receptions per season and totaling 15 TDs.
Of course, Wallace is no stranger to the AFC North. The most productive seasons of his career, before he signed a mega-deal with the Dolphins, came in Pittsburgh as a Steeler. He earned his lone Pro Bowl nod in 2011, when he racked up 1,193 yards and eight touchdowns on 72 catches.
In Baltimore, Wallace will act as a deep threat as part of a wide receiving corps that has plenty of upside, but plenty of question marks as well. Steve Smith is coming off an Achilles injury, 2015 first-rounder Breshad Perriman missed his entire rookie season, and Kamar Aiken and Jeremy Butler had only combined for 24 total receptions prior to the 2015 season.
The Ravens have been more active than usual in free agency in 2016, adding safety Eric Weddle on a four-year deal and tight end Ben Watson on a two-year contract. While those expenditures were somewhat out of character for Baltimore, Wallace is the sort of player the team typically targets, since he’s a buy-low candidate who was released by another team, meaning he won’t count toward the compensatory draft pick formula.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Solid pick up. Steve Smith and Mike Wallace with Watson at TE really helps the offense and Flacco. Now they just need to shore up RB…I don’t believe Forsett is the answer.
That’s if smith and Watson can make it through the season – they are both old. Just like previous years, one injury and we are in a very difficult situation.
Mike Wallace is decent, nothing spectacular. He won’t be a huge help to Baltimore. Steve Smith is getting old and coming back from a pretty serious injury. Benjamin Watson is pretty old for a TE and will have nowhere close to the stats he put up last year. Drew Brees relies heavily on his TE, Flacco doesn’t so picking up Watson was a waste for them. The team is still mediocre with every pickup they’ve got this offseason.
I disagree with regards to the tight end. Flacco is hugely reliant on his tight ends–when he has tight ends to work with–and while Watson is no spring chicken, he and Maxx Williams should form a decent enough tandem. And you’re right, Wallace is nothing spectacular, but he and Breshad Perriman on the outside with Smith in the slot could be an effective lineup.
Can’t wait to see someone wearing black and gold light Wallace up.