Omar Khan is hard at work trying to retain members of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 2023 draft class. He has recently extended Nick Herbig and Darnell Washington, but a few other players are still seeking deals. That includes Joey Porter Jr., who held in during mandatory minicamp in pursuit of an extension. Ben Roethlisberger thinks that Porter’s contract saga will be one of the most important things to watch during Steelers training camp.
“He’s a very deserving cornerback, one of the best in the business, I think,” Roethlisberger said Tuesday on his Footbahlin’ podcast. “He’s young still in this business, so I think that is a benefit to him because he’s got a lot of years left. You love the physical play of his. But are they going to sign him before the season? Because the Steelers notoriously don’t negotiate during the season.
“When training camp comes, is he going to be participating or is he going to be sitting in, sitting out, however you want to call it? Is he gonna be a little disgruntled? That, to me, is gonna be one of the biggest questions going into training camp. What’s gonna happen with Joey Porter Jr. and is he gonna be out there?”
Paying Porter is a little tricky. He started to emerge as a true No. 1 corner during the second half of the 2025 season. While his play had been inconsistent before that, it looked like everything was starting to click for Porter. He’s a good, young player who the Steelers should keep.
However, his price tag could make things difficult. Top corners make a lot of money, in the range of $25-$30 million a year. That’s likely the kind of money that Porter is looking for. That would be a massive deal, and the Steelers already have a lot of money invested in their defense. Paying Porter top corner money could be tough.
He could make things messy for the team, too. A hold-in during mandatory minicamp isn’t too big of a deal. It shows that Porter is serious about getting paid, but it doesn’t create too much of a stir. It’ll be a little more notable if he holds in during training camp, though. A total hold-out is extreme, but perhaps that’s also on the table for Porter. That would send a very strong message to the Steelers.
The Steelers want to compete for a Super Bowl this year. That already feels like asking for a lot, but without Porter, it might be a pipedream. He’s their top corner, and they can’t afford to lose him. Jamel Dean is a solid starter, but the options after him are more uncertain.
It would be ideal to have Porter paid and practicing with the team when training camp begins. There’s still time for the two sides to work out a deal. However, the Steelers haven’t been afraid to wait until the last minute to get deals done in the past. Porter and the team could find themselves in a stalemate during training camp, waiting for the other to blink first.
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