Cornerback Joey Porter Jr. was reportedly the Steelers’ No. 1 extension priority in April, but he remains without a new contract five months later. Meanwhile, teammates and fellow 2023 draftees Keeanu Benton, Darnell Washington and Nick Herbig all received big-money extensions in recent months.
As a rule, the Steelers do not negotiate contracts during the season. Set to open Sunday against the Falcons (perhaps without Porter, who is questionable with a back injury), they are running out of time to come to terms with the 26-year-old.
Porter expressed pessimism about the potential of an extension on Friday, which hardly came as a shock. After all, general manager Omar Khan hasn’t shown much urgency in negotiations. It took the Steelers until earlier this week just to make Porter an offer.
Had the Steelers acted faster in talks, they could have gotten ahead of an exploding market for cornerbacks. Instead, beginning with Trent McDuffie’s March extension with the Rams, four corners have signed contracts ranging from $31MM to $33.75MM per year over the past several months. There are a total of six CBs averaging at least $30MM per annum, while the next tier consists of five players making between $20.25MM to $25MM on a yearly basis.
It’s debatable whether Porter, who has never made a Pro Bowl or earned All-Pro honors, belongs in the $30MM-per-year group. Although the salary cap continues to rise, one anonymous AFC executive told Jonathan Jones of The Athletic that Porter doesn’t even deserve to be in the $24MM-25MM neighborhood that includes Broncos superstar Patrick Surtain and the Panthers’ Jaycee Horn.
“Is Joey Porter as good as maybe he values himself as?” the executive asked Jones. “I would assume he wants to be around Surtain/Horn, maybe even higher. And he isn’t to that level of a player.”
That executive cited Porter’s proclivity for penalties as a strike against him. Indeed, as Jones notes, Porter leads all corners in penalties in coverage (16) since he entered the NFL. Porter has also come down with just three interceptions in 47 games, and Pro Football Focus has never graded him anywhere close to elite at his position. While PFF ranked Porter a highly respectable 28th last year, he was 63rd as a rookie and 97th in 2024.
The Steelers likely have a higher opinion of Porter than PFF, but that doesn’t mean they will pay him like a cream-of-the-crop corner in the next 24 hours. If Porter plays without a new deal this year and continues to perform to their liking, the Steelers will have the $23MM franchise tag as an option next offseason. That would probably be a “digestible” amount for Pittsburgh, according to Jones. The Steelers could otherwise re-sign Porter before the free agent market opens in March or let him leave.
Allowing the former second-rounder to walk could entitle the Steelers to a third-round compensatory pick, but for now, there is an outside chance they will reach a buzzer-beating agreement with him. Khan did the same with outside linebacker T.J. Watt, defensive lineman Cameron Heyward and tight end Pat Freiermuth in recent years. Will the Porter situation pan out differently? Vote in PFR’s latest poll.
What will happen with Joey Porter Jr?
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