Steelers are in 'weird spot' with Porter Jr.
With the Steelers activating Joey Porter Jr. from the PUP list, Mike Florio and Chris Simms evaluate where things stand between Pittsburgh and their "top-tier" cornerback in contract negotiations.
Video Transcript
I've addition, kalimina to our friends in the Greek community and elsewhere.
That is the traditional wish of good luck for the upcoming month, and this is the first month, as we all know, of football season.
It gets started one week from today.
No, tomorrow.
Get your facts straight.
One week from tomorrow in Seattle, and the Pittsburgh Steelers, whose, fan base includes new Seahawks owner Vinod Khosla.
Vinod Khosla paying very close attention to the Joey Porter situation in Pittsburgh.
He was activated from the physically unable to perform list.
He passed the physical.
I saw that on the official report, the document the NFL sends out, passed physical.
He passed the physical anytime.
It's not about passing the physical.
He wasn't gonna practice, so they weren't gonna, they weren't gonna, you know, play this game.
Just keep him on the PUP list.
Yeah.
Like, let's, let's j- keep him over there.
It's clear from things Mike McCarthy said it's a business thing.
It has nothing to do with an injury, and they still can't work out a contract with Joey Porter Jr.
He's in the last year of his rookie deal.
He was the first pick in round two, 32nd overall, would've been a first rounder.
The Dolphins had forfeited their pick, but when you're not in round one, you've only got a four-year deal.
The clock is ticking toward the expiration, and he believes he should get his new contract, and they haven't made him an offer that he would accept.
Yeah, no, it, it, it's interesting.
I mean, Joey Porter's a really damn good football player.
I mean, know that.
He, he's, he's, you know, a, a top-tier corner to a degree.
We had this discussion last week though, but it seems like, you know, where, where You can The discrepancy of what he and his camp value themselves at as compared to the Steelers.
You know my thoughts.
I think he's a real good football player, but I don't think he's in that conversation of guys that we should go, "Oh, he should be at the very top, or one of the three or four or five top guys."
That's where it's tough.
And, you know, I don't know exactly.
I've heard rumors about what's being asked for and all of that.
But, but at the same time, yeah, they're, they're in a little bit of a weird spot, and we know how Pittsburgh operates and what they do once the season starts here.
So it's gonna be interesting to see what happens in, in the future here with Joey Porter.
Chris, I may have said this last week.
I know I was talking to somebody about it over the weekend.
The dynamic that's unfolded in recent years in the cornerback market is like what was happening eight years ago in the quarterback market, where the next guy up becomes the highest paid player at the position.
Yeah.
That's ended.
At quarterback, it's stretched out to a range, and one of the problems with the Bucs and Baker Mayfield, they can't agree on where to fit him in that range.
Joey Porter Jr, if he's trying to say, "Hey, I'm the next guy up, I, I'm gonna jump Devin Witherspoon, he got the latest deal.
I wanna be the highest paid," the Steelers aren't gonna do it.
I don't think they'll go to 30.
They want him, they like him.
We're gonna play some sound from GM Omar Khan here in a second, but there's been no progress because they're in two different universes, two different galaxies of what the player wants and what the team is willing to pay.
On that note, here is Omar Khan, the GM of the team, on whether he expects Joey Porter Jr. To practice in advance of the regular season opener 12 days from now against the Falcons.
Anyone that's, that we feel is, is healthy and, available to us, we expect them to practice.
So you don't, he does not have an injury.
I know he's off the PUP list.
He got, he got taken off the, our medical staff felt like, he was good to go.
Regarding his contract, in your opinion, why is the deal not gotten done with him?
No, I, I won't go into Like any other player, we, we won't go, we won't talk publicly about the negotiations per se.
But you know, Joey know, Joey knows how, we feel about him, and I still hope Joey, you know, finishes his career here.
Do you anticipate a deal potentially getting done by the start of the season, knowing the policy you have?
Yeah, we won't, First of all, our policy is, is gonna remain in place, but we, you know, I'm not gonna talk about negotiation.
Oh, that policy, that policy.
Look, I respect the Steelers for what they've accomplished, one of the bedrock franchises in the NFL, but that stupid-ass, "We won't do contracts after the season starts, never ever, ever, ever," that Why, why are you tying a hand behind your back?
I know, right?
Why are you removing- Handcuff me a tool- Handcuff me that all the other teams have?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Right.
Yeah.
You self-handcuff yourself, as someone would say.
Yes.
Why are you doing this?
Why, what is the purpose?
I'd love to know.
Art, I'll come up.
We'll have lunch.
We'll go to Primanti.
I'd love to know.
I heard Primanti's is a popular establishment in Pittsburgh.
I, I'd love to know where this came from.
Why do they refuse to do business after week one?
It is not impossible to walk and chew gum at the same time.
We're playing games, we're getting deals done, and it, it raises the stakes here with Porter.
And I think, Chris, listening to what Omar Khan said, you know, this is the potential end result of a hold-in.
You get to a point where you say to the player, "That's your helmet.
There's your shoulder pads.
You're under contract."
Get to work.
Yeah.
Yeah.
This is Playtime is over.
Yeah.
It's time to go to work.
So- I think they may be getting there, and then you can start fining him for conduct detrimental to the team.
There's all sorts of stuff you can do.
That's the flaw with the hold in.
If the team wants to play hardball on the hold in, you got a problem.
And I feel like this thing is ticking toward threat level midnight.
It- I think they're gonna have an issue- Yeah.
Feels like it 'cause it's all gotta get done by week one.
Yeah.
I- So- Well, yeah, I'm First off, the, like you said, why, why self-handcuff these- thyself?
I, I, I don't understand that.
It, that, it's old world football thinking, that whole mindset right there.
That's what that is.
It was cool in the '70s.
"Yeah, we don't wanna set precedents, you know, with other guys in the locker room.
We don't You know, one guy's gonna negotiate and then they're all gonna wanna negotiate in the, during the season."
That's what it "Oh, it's a distraction.
It's a distraction to the player and the rest..." Like, come on.
Like, it's 2026.
The players are capable of talking to an agent once every other day going, "Hey, what's going on with my contract?"
And then going, "Okay, now I have to hang up the phone and go focus on covering the other team's receiver."
The, the It's just, it's stupid.
Plus, on top of that, the old thought of like, "Oh, the other guys in the locker room, it's gonna set precedents."
No, it's not.
No, it's not.
There's a hierarchy in the locker room.
Everybody knows Joey Porter's one of the crown jewels of the franchise that way.
You know?
The fourth receiver isn't like, "Gosh, if Joey Porter's doing it, then I'm gonna ask for a contract negotiate."
He knows his way and place and where he's at in the world.
The fifth linebacker's not gonna be, "Oh, Joey Porter's doing contract negotiations during the season.
I wanna do it now."
Like, no.
Everybody knows where they stand in a locker room for the most part.
They do.
And so it's not.
All that stuff is just fluff and BS and crap.
It's crap.
And so we'll see where it goes, but you're right.
They're making it harder than they need to, and it does feel like it's getting a little tight here.
Okay.
Question.
Why do you think it hasn't been a bigger deal that he's been holding in?
Because That's a good question.
I think, one, I don't think he's, with a lot of people in football and everything, looked at as like, "Oh, this is the top corner in the sport."
This is not like it's Christian Gonzalez or Devin Witherspoon where you just go, "Whoa.
Oh my gosh, the Patriots not, might not be the same on defense if they don't have Christian Gonzalez.
The Seahawks definitely won't be the same without Devin Witherspoon."
So I think that's probably part of it.
And then yeah, the Steelers seem to do a pretty good job of kinda keeping these things low-key or somewhat under wraps.
So that would be my assessment, but you're right.
It's a good question, Mike.
But as to the first part, I think that explains why we are where we are.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Joey Porter Jr. is not one of the top four, five corners.
And look, I'm not trying to take anything away from him, but when you And I'm a firm believer and a big supporter of players getting paid, but when you, you, you It's gotta be the right guy to play that card, and I don't know what the right solution is.
If he wants a little bit less, do they get a deal done?
You know, he's not gonna be ready to go for the start of the season.
The whole situation is unfortunate that they weren't able to get cooler heads, a more objective assessment on both sides, and get this thing done, because now they are bumping up against a deadline, and we'll see if it gets done.
It needs to be a bigger deal, but I think the fact that he's not All-Pro, Pro Bowl level is the thing that's making it not a big deal, which maybe suggests at some point you gotta reduce your expectations- Yeah to get a deal done.
Yeah.
They need to give him an off-ramp.
He's backed against the wall now.
He's stayed out all the training camp- Yeah and the preseason.
They've taken him off of the PUP list.
The first week of the season's coming.
They're not changing their policy.
Omar said that.
They need to give him a way out of this.
They need to give him a way to save some face and accept the deal and move on.
Yeah.
I, I, I hear you there.
Yeah.
I, I think, you know, you, you said it right.
It, it's that lack of, you know, big-time moments.
You know, the accolades that go behind that.
We don't ever turn on a Steelers game and go, "Where's Joey Por- who's Joey Porter following today?"
That, that, that's not a thing.
That And so the other ones, it is a thing.
That's why Christian Gonzalez is about to be the highest paid guy in football at the cornerback position 'cause it's like, "Hey, they're in the Super Bowl.
Oh, he's covering the best receiver in football wherever he goes.
Jackson Smith-Njigba."
And so that's where You know, Trent McDuffie does that.
Derek Stingley does that.
All Patrick Surtain does that.
All these guys do that, and I think that's things that, that ring true.
Porter can play some man to man, but it's not necessarily his strength, and holding and pass interference have been a issue for him when he does do that.
So that's where I think, you know, we're saying it right.
That all those things kinda lead up to why it's maybe not getting the attention, of some of the other guys in the, in the sport.
