It has been a busy offseason for Pittsburgh Steelers GM Omar Khan.
Not only did he hire a new head coach for the first time in his career, he also reshaped the roster in a major way, turning things over during new head coach Mike McCarthy’s first year.
More than 30 new players joined the franchise this offseason, from the 10 draft picks, to a number of free agency signings and one key trade acquisition in wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr.
Now, ahead of training camp, there’s one final move that Khan and the Steelers need to make, according to ESPN’s Aaron Schatz.
Fortunately, it’s not an outside move. Instead, Schatz believes the Steelers’ one final move this offseason is to lock up their top cornerback in Joey Porter Jr.
“Porter is a very talented cornerback who finished 10th in the league in my coverage DVOA metric last season,” Schatz writes. “The problem is that Porter will want top-five cornerback money, and there isn’t necessarily evidence that he belongs in that stratosphere.
“Hopefully, the Steelers can get him to agree to something that might be higher than they want to go but lower than what players such as Trent McDuffie and Sauce Gardner recently got paid.”
Porter is one of the NFL’s better talents at the position. Where he ranks inside the top 10 — or outside — remains up for debate. What can’t be debated is that Porter is coming off his best season and is in terrific position to land a lucrative extension.
In coverage last season, according to Pro Football Focus, Porter held quarterbacks to under 50% completion rate. He also didn’t give up a touchdown, had one interception and broke up 11 passes. Most importantly, Porter cleaned up the penalties, allowing him to play fast and free.
Without penalties hindering him, Porter was able to be that physical cornerback, leaning on his length, allowing him to lock up receivers in the second half of the season. Now, he’s clearly CB1 in the Steelers secondary, and has help opposite him in veteran signee Jamel Dean.
Porter needs a new deal though and based on initial reporting from the Post-Gazette’s Gerry Dulac, the Steelers and the former second-round pick aren’t all that close in talks. This is an extension that could drag out due to the market at the position.
Dulac added Tuesday that he doesn’t believe Porter will get a market-setting deal, and that the young corner isn’t a top-five or even top-10 talent at the position. But the Steelers could feel differently. It’s all about reaching common ground.
Eventually, the two sides will get there. Porter has to remain a priority for Pittsburgh, though.
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