Who Would You Franchise Tag : Kennan Lewis or Mike Wallace?

[steelcurtain29]

I was listening to The Fan today and they were talking about the problem arising with keeping Wallace and / or Lewis. Lewis had a tremendous year and showed (to me) that he's a legit CB. Not only that, but so did Cortez Allen.

Here's something to consider - both would require $10 million to tag. However, a deal would negate that issue; technically. Let's consider the following

Legitimate cornerbacks are hard to come by anymore. With the rule changes in recent years, it's very hard to play the CB position at a consistent level without having to draw penalties. Lewis is not suddenly an elite CB, nor would I consider hailing him as such; but his play this season defined a legitimate lockdown cornerback. Lewis lacked turnovers (just one turnover, a forced fumble) all season, but his 54 tackles were amongst the best of all CB's in the NFL, along with his 23 defended passes. That number is one pass off the NFL lead of 24, by Seattle's Richard Sherman.

On the other hand, you have yourself an extremely fast WR. Finding a WR of his speed isn't something you teach. Being able to use that and gain separation is another thing; which Wallace can usually do well. His ability to pick up on routes pretty well and usually displays good hands. While Wallace may have had a "bad" season this year, he still managed to have 8 touchdowns; which is one score short of being in the top-10 in the entire NFL. Wallace has shown time and time again he has the ability to make a play happen at any time, whether it's teams deep like in 2011, where he broke an NFL-record for most 20+ yard touchdowns; or catching short-route passes and taking them to the house, like against the Giants this year. Wallace's career average per season right now are 59 catches, over 1,000 yards, and 8 touchdowns; something very few players can say they've also accomplished.

So I ask you, if the situations arrives; who do you pick? The Steelers defense usually depends on an aggressive and legendary pass-rush to make the lives easy of the defensive backs. Despite missing Troy Polamalu and the pass rush, Lewis shown up every game of the year as a legitimate #1 corner. However, you've also got to wonder about Mike Wallace. Despite his "bad" season and off-season issues, he came to play and has indicated he wants to stay in Pittsburgh by all costs. Even with his poor play, he was still more productive than the majority of the offensive weapons in the NFL; just imagine him as a ready, focused, contracted WR.
_________________
Come Follow My Oakland Multi-Sport Franchise!

[JustPlainNasty]

Neither. I'd sign Lewis without tag.
_________________

[stillersenat]

While neither are worth it, Lewis is coming off of his only good year. It was a great year and great CBs are rare, but it was only one year. Look at Mcfadden if you have any doubts about where I'm coming from on this issue. Lewis won't be tagged. He'll get a fair deal with us, probably 5 million per or something like that.
_________________

[miamisteeler]

Wallace disapointed this season but I think he still merits an offer from the Steelers and hopefully he likes it in Pittsburgh and chooses to take less to stay in a place he knows he can win at.

Keenan Lewis looked good this season and with that being said I wouldn't use the tag on him just yet. I would try to negotiate with him and see what happens. We still have Ike and Cortez under contract for next season so it wouldnt be the end of the world if Lewis walked. Wallace would probably be much harder to replace (production wise). Think about our offense this past season without Wallace. Scary huh?
_________________
The Miami Steeler

[Ward4HOF]

[at23steelers]

I'd try to pay Keenan around 3 years 15 million with most the money on the backend. Franchise tag on either seems unwise.

[kilgannon]

[AlanFanecaFan]

Try to sign one of them without tag...

Lewis is one of the top FA CBs available...he's getting paid.

5-6 year deal $30-40 mill with somewhere in the teens guaranteed is probable.
_________________

[rollins]

I would not franchise either one. Neither of them are worth that. I would like to sign one of them back. Here are the factors for me if I was making the decision on which one:

Wallace is the better player, but not as much as people might think

Lewis will come at probably half the price

Good CBs are much harder to find than good WRs

I hate Wallace's attitude and effort this year and don't want to reward it

The last thing is our Defense is about to go through some major changes over the next year or two no need to add another change.

So for me its not that close, Lewis is the guy.
So for me its Lewis, I think he has earned it

[at23steelers]

'Keenan Lewis plans to test free agency. He told #Steelers "they made a mistake" by not offering multi-year deal before 2012 season"'

[GreasyApples]

All I know is I'll be pissed if both of them leave for FA
_________________

Props to mike23md!

[steelcurtain29]

[FourThreeMafia]

[superbelt]

Franchise neither. I would try to sign them both. But Lewis hasn't earned a big contract with one year starting (very well, but before this he was horrible).

We have Ike, who is still better. And Cortez, who has proven to also be starting quality, and a takeaway machine.
_________________
"Jesus, I HATE Cleveland"
-Robert Wagner

[at23steelers]