Mike Wallace seems destined for Miami

NFL.com reporter Jeff Darlington writes a nice piece on Dolphins GM Jeff Ireland, who is entering his contract year with a boatload of cap space and a perennial losing team underneath him.

A tempting time to break the bank in free agency.

The picture Darlington paints is Ireland underestimated the free agency market for wide receivers last season, choosing not to enter the high-priced chase for Vincent Jackson and Pierre Garcon (two players Darlington said Ireland wanted), just after the team traded Brandon Marshall for two third-round picks.

With the Chiefs (over?)paying WR Dwayne Bowe recently, the market for Wallace's services likely will start at something around 5-years, $60 million with $32 million guaranteed and coming in the first three years of the deal.

Miami seems the team most likely to offer up that kind of money.

Darlington mentions recently cap-stingy Minnesota as a possible destination point as well, but with malcontent Percy Harvin already threatening a Wallace-like holdout to start the 2013 season because he isn't getting an extension, it seems like a stretch in reality.

To be sure, Miami is still driving the Wallace Party Bus, and it has roughly $32 million worth of RSVPs right now.

It could even be more, especially if another team gets involved in the bidding. While Darlington didn't note any particular reason why Minnesota would be involved outside of the obvious cap space, it's not entirely out of the question. But a team like Indianapolis with a strong-armed young quarterback and loads of cap space could make a compelling stance.

Stampede Blue shot this idea down with heavy artillery in January, and editor Brad Wells told me via Twitter there was no chance Wallace would end up in Colts blue.