Written By Sam Ekstrom
Entering the 2013 free agency period, the Vikings were targeting two receivers to replace recently-traded Percy Harvin: Mike Wallace and Greg Jennings.
Wallace jilted the Vikings’ $76 million offer, according to his father, and took $60 million to play with Ryan Tannehill in Miami. Minnesota landed their next target, however, by signing high-character wideout Greg Jennings to a $45 million deal.
Wallace was a headache in South Beach. Jennings’ price tag got too steep. Now two years after their massive free agency decisions, the high-profile pass catchers have swapped teams.
Wallace is now the well-compensated veteran in Minnesota after a March trade that only cost the Vikings a fifth-round pick. Jennings was released shortly thereafter in a cost-saving measure and took a humbling 2-year, $8 million contract to replace Wallace in Miami.
The Vikings think they have an upgrade at the No. 1 receiver position in Wallace, but with his big-play potential comes an equally explosive personality – at least that’s what the Miami Dolphins would like you to believe. “Sometimes you get a bad rep,” said Wallace on Monday. “They tried to paint that picture when I left. I’m gone now, and I can’t really defend myself either.”
It was a trying two years for the Mississippi alum in Miami. He posted his two lowest yards-per-reception totals in his six-year career (12.7 and 12.9, respectively). He also saw his targets decrease from 141 in 2013 to 115 last year, leading to some frustration from Wallace. In late October, he vented to reporters about the Dolphins’ anemic offense. In early November, he did it again. In Week 17 of the 2014 season, he reportedly pulled himself from the game before halftime. The final straw came in March when former teammate Maurkice Pouncey called Wallace a “coward.” There’s been back-and-forth since over whether Wallace quit on the Dolphins or was simply benched by the coaches. The receiver doesn’t hesitate when asked about the incident. “That was a team decision,” he told a small group of reporters in Mankato. “I would never, ever in a million years come out of the game. It was the last game of the season. You’re trying to win the game. You wouldn’t just take yourself out. You wanna go out on a high note. I would never do that.”
Just over four months into Wallace’s much-needed change of scenery, he’s earned nothing but praise from Vikings coaches and teammates, primarily about his work ethic. “I like Mike Wallace,” said head coach Mike Zimmer after an OTA session. “He’s got some fire, and he comes up to me all the time and says, ‘You can’t stop me today,’ and stuff like that, and hey, I like those guys that are competitors. He works extremely hard, I think he’s developing a good relationship with everybody on the football team.”
Quarterback Teddy Bridgewater developed an appreciation for Wallace early on, expressing how impressed he was that Wallace would dive for balls during basic OTA drills. The two worked out in South Florida, Bridgewater’s home, between minicamp and training camp. The second-year quarterback came away with the same impression as Zimmer. “Mike is a guy who is eager to be great, and to see how motivated he is to be great, it just motivates me,” said Bridgewater on training camp check-in day. “He’s a guy who excels in his route running, catching the football. I just can’t wait to get out there and compete in live action with him.”
Wallace scoffs at any notion that his work ethic suffered in Miami, telling reporters to ask the Steelers and Dolphins coaches about his practice habits. As has been customary thus far for Wallace in Minnesota, he stuck around in the Mankato heat Monday after practice to catch some extra passes, partnering with undrafted rookie free agent Jordan Leslie.
Wallace is a competitor, and with a competitive attitude often comes a fiery mindset, especially in a player who reached the NFL’s pinnacle early in his career. The speedy receiver was pivotal on a Super Bowl-winning team in Pittsburgh back in 2010-11. In Miami, he didn’t sniff the postseason and suffered growing pains adjusting to a less-explosive Dolphins offense. Wallace admits this led to frustration, which reached a boiling point at times. “Just getting frustrated sometimes when things are not going your way, not winning, not doing the things you expect yourself to do, you get frustrated a little bit,” Wallace told reporters after Monday’s morning walkthrough. “I have to do a better job of holding that frustration in sometimes. I work hard, man. If you’re not getting results that you want, I get frustrated. I have to do a better job of not showing it and just continue to work.
“Being a better leader is not showing when you’re frustrated and things not going your way, just staying level headed, stay grinding and always keep the team first,” Wallace continued. “We’ve all got one goal in common. Everybody out there wants to win. It might not be me catching 100 or 200 yards and a touchdown. It might be Adrian [Peterson] going for 250 or [Charles Johnson] going for 200 yards or Kyle [Rudolph], whoever. Just being happy for those guys. I’m always happy for my teammates. I’m always going to celebrate anytime they score.”
Wallace’s cap hit is costing the Vikings $9.9 million in 2015, just over $1 million less than Jennings’. Many questions were raised in the days following Jennings’ departure and Wallace’s arrival. Why would the Vikings rid themselves of a valuable mentor for young players like Bridgewater and Cordarrelle Patterson? Why would they exchange one of the NFL’s most respected locker room leaders for an accused quitter in Miami? The answer lies with offensive coordinator Norv Turner, who Wallace calls his “favorite person.”
“To me the only thing that matters is how you play when you step on the field, and I want Wallace to make plays,” Turner said. “If he makes plays, if he does the things we think he can do, if he works hard in practice, he sets an example in his actions in terms of the way he approaches preparation, then that’s leadership. What guys say is very meaningless to me; it’s obviously what they do.”
The Vikings don’t care what Wallace might have done off the field in Miami. All they know is what he’s done on the field in his half-dozen years in the league. And if the Week 16 matchup last season is any indication, the Vikings know Wallace is a bona fide playmaker.
Sam Ekstrom is a staff writer for Cold Omaha at 105 The Ticket and a play-by-play broadcaster in Burnsville, Minn. Hear him on 105 The Ticket Sunday mornings from 8-11 a.m. on “The Wake Up Call.” Follow him on Twitter @SamEkstrom for further insights.
Photo: Luke Inman