The clock is absolutely screaming for the Pittsburgh Steelers and cornerback Joey Porter Jr. to get a long-term extension done before kickoff. With the regular season opener just 12 days out, a deal isn’t in place, and general manager Omar Khan is not budging on the team’s ironclad rule against negotiating once the games start. This is crunch time, folks, and the silence from the team is deafening.
The GM Stance: No Deal, No Talk
Look, the Steelers have a policy, right? They traditionally shut down contract talks once the regular season fires up, and Khan made it crystal clear that this isn’t changing for Porter. He said, “We won’t talk publicly about the negotiations per se, but Joey knows how we feel about him, and I still hope Joey finishes his career here.” Hope is great, but a contract is better, especially with a hard deadline approaching fast. Khan reiterated, “Our policy is going to remain in place, but I’m not going to talk about negotiations.” That’s a strong line in the sand. You gotta wonder how Porter and his camp are feeling about that kind of public stance with so little time left.
The Money, The Teammates, The Stakes
Meanwhile, other top corners are getting PAID this offseason, setting a high bar. Porter’s fellow 2023 draft classmate Devon Witherspoon is now the league’s highest-paid cornerback on a per-year basis, raking in $33 million. Denzel Ward bumped his salary to $31.1 million per year, and Trent McDuffie of the Rams is pulling in $31 million. That’s a lot of cheddar, and it definitely impacts what a rising star like Porter should expect. Steelers cornerback Jalen Ramsey isn’t mincing words either. He’s openly defending Porter, telling everyone the Steelers need to pony up. Ramsey declared, “We need the whole secondary. They need to pay Joey Porter Jr… I’m overly in Joey’s corner. Joey needs to get compensated for being a valuable part of this secondary and a valuable part of this defense and team.” You love to see a teammate go to bat like that! If the Steelers manage to ink Porter, it would mark a huge win: he would be the fourth player from their 2023 draft class to score a second contract. That’s a big deal for a team building for the future.
This standoff is wild. With 12 days to go until the season kicks off, every single day without a new deal is another day of anxiety for Steelers fans. Will they get it done? Will Porter be playing without the security he deserves? The clock is ticking, and we’re all watching to see if Pittsburgh can avert a major headache right before the games start counting.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Behind the Steel Curtain.
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