According to Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Steelers have signed first round pick, guard David DeCastro to a four-year deal, with an option for the fifth. The deal is reportedly worth $7.8 million and DeCastro is expected to start straight away at right guard. With DeCastro signed the Steelers can turn their attention to the only player not yet signed, WR Mike Wallace.
Wallace will now have all attention turned to him and there is plenty of cap space to give Wallace a big deal. Just because Wallace may get a big money deal doesn’t mean it can’t be a good deal for the Steelers as well. With around $7.5 million to spend the Steelers can give Wallace a deal close to what Ray Rice and Matt Forte got a week ago.
A long-term deal with Wallace could mean more change next offseason however. If Wallace gets a long-term deal from the Steelers it means they are set on building a passing attack around quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. They will likely want to keep Antonio Brown and Emmanuel Sanders in Pittsburgh as well, but they will need more cap space to sign these players.
Following the 2012 season the Steelers could see more familiar faces leave town. Casey Hampton, James Harrison, Larry Foote, Will Allen, and Rashard Mendenhall may all see the door in 2013 to make room for more young players to get their long-term deals done. There has been a lot of change since the Steelers lost Super Bowl 45. For instance that Super Bowl took place just two years ago yet none of the starting offensive line is expected to start the 2012 season. In fact Ramon Foster, Doug Legursky, and Trai Essex are the only players left on the roster that took snaps on the offensive line in that game.
Once training camp begins tomorrow the Steelers will be in full gear trying to get Wallace into camp. If Wallace shows up to camp that will be a big showing that contract negotiations are going well, however, that is not expected to happen.
In other news…
Offensive tackle Bridger Buche signed a one-year deal on Monday with the Pittsburgh Steelers, according to the Sentinel-Standard. Buche, a rookie free-agent out of Eastern Michigan, will attend the Steelers’ training camp.
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