With his father’s legacy already etched into Steelers history, Joey Porter Jr. has had plenty of reasons to make his own mark in the Black and Gold. But an unresolved contract dispute, driven by a gap between his $30 million ask and the franchise’s $27 million offer, has caused a standstill. As trade rumors build and questions about his future follow him, he has offered a blunt response.
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“It didn’t get done; it didn’t happen. That’s really just old news for me now,” Joey Porter told the media, as per ESPN’s Brooke Pryor. “It’s mainly just focused on what I got ahead of me, and it’s really just getting back to 100%.”
The Pittsburgh Steelers and Porter did not agree on mutual terms for a new deal as he nears the last year of his rookie contract. The situation has left the cornerback’s long-term future in Pittsburgh hanging, while sparking conversations about whether the Steelers will consider moving on from their young defensive back.
“They’re not talking to him anymore,” Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette said on Sunday. “I don’t see how Joey Porter Jr. will go play this year for just south of $4 million when he walked away from what would have been just north of $27 million this year.
“To me, that makes everything he did in the spring and in training camp pointless. Why would he do all that and then go out and play. I don’t understand it.”
The CB has not requested any trade and has confirmed that he definitely sees himself playing at some point this season, but he hasn’t given any clarity regarding his status for the Steelers against the 2-0 Cincinnati Bengals at Acrisure Stadium in Week 3.
Porter’s asking price isn’t out of nowhere, as the market for elite cornerbacks has surged in recent years. The list of highest-paid CBs includes Christian Gonzalez, Devon Witherspoon, Denzel Ward, Trent McDuffie, Sauce Gardner, Derek Stingley Jr., Jaycee Horn, Patrick Surtain II, Daron Bland, and A.J. Terrell, with contracts of more than $20 million.
If Porter had gotten the agreement, he would have been ranging from the 5th to the 6th highest-paid cornerback in the NFL. But the Steelers have a rule of no contract negotiations during the season.
According to ESPN reports, Pittsburgh could receive a second-round pick and a Day 3 selection for Porter. But the Steelers are looking for a first-round pick. That asking price is the primary reason trade talks with the heavily linked Detroit Lions ultimately failed to materialize.
Porter has been cleared off the PUP list, and now there is no reason left why he shouldn’t play. The CB is still under contract for 2026, and the Steelers can retain control of his rights beyond this season through the franchise tag.
At the same time, his immense value to the defense makes this situation impossible to ignore. Since selecting him in the second round in 2023, Pittsburgh has seen an immense return on his initial four-year, $9.618 million rookie contract.
The 26-year-old has developed into an outside corner, starting 14 games last season and recording a career-high 14 passes defended. But for now, the cornerback wants to leave the contract drama behind.