Steelers' Rooney on Wallace: 'He should be here'

June 13, 2012
By Gerry Dulac / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette



Steelers president Art Rooney II has a message for Pro Bowl wide receiver Mike Wallace, who is absent from the team's three-day minicamp.

"He should be here," Rooney said today after the team concluded its morning workout.

The Steelers have until Friday to either reduce or pull the one-year, $2.7 million offer they tendered Wallace as a restricted free agent. The team is not expected to do that, though, and will continue to try to sign him to a long-term contract.

However, there has been little, if any, movement in negotiations.

Coach Mike Tomlin said he isn't worried about Wallace missing the conditioning aspect of the offseason training activities and minicamp. But he also said he would prefer that his fourth-year receiver be here with the rest of his teammates.

"Mike has always been guy who's in tip top condition over a 12-month calendar since we had him," Tomlin said. "He's a sharp guy. I'm sure he's working at the learning element of it. But there's no substitute for being here and being around your teammates and learning the nuances and learning from other people's mistakes."

"It's probably short-term misery. Hopefully there will be some closure to this and it will be in our rear view mirror. Right now, he'd be better served if he were here working."

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