Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Joey Porter Jr. may be off the physically unable to perform list, but there’s no guarantee right now he’ll be on the field come Week 1.
Because even if his back is good to go, his contract situation could provide complications. The 2023 second-round pick is in line for a lucrative extension, and the clock is ticking on a deal being struck, considering the Steelers are adhering to their policy of not continuing negotiations into the regular season.
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When asked Tuesday if he’d play without an extension, Porter shrugged.
“I don’t know,” he said, via ESPN’s Brooke Pryor. “I got to talk to the guys upstairs and my agents about that one.”
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Porter is a key ingredient for Pittsburgh’s defense. The son of Super Bowl-winning Steelers linebacker Joey Porter, the 26-year-old Penn State product is coming off an impressive 2025 campaign. He allowed only 29 receptions and 299 receiving yards on 60 targets, according to Pro Football Focus, which has him down for just one receiving touchdown allowed across three seasons in the league. Additionally, Porter piled up a career-high 14 passes defended last season, per Pro Football Reference.
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Like New England Patriots cornerback Christian Gonzalez, Porter is due for a pay raise. The cornerback market has already been reset this offseason, with Seattle Seahawks stalwart Devon Witherspoon — the No. 5 overall pick in 2023 — receiving a four-year, $132 million contract that made him the highest-paid corner in NFL history. He leads all players at the position with an average annual value of $33 million, per Over the Cap.
Witherspoon is followed by Denzel Ward of the Cleveland Browns ($31.1 million AAV) and Trent McDuffie of the Los Angeles Rams ($31 million AAV), both of whom also earned eye-catching extensions this offseason.
Porter said it’s been “tough” navigating extension talks, which he’s done most recently while nursing a back injury that he aggravated during a mobility workout on the first day of training camp, according to ESPN.
“This is my first go around this, but, I mean, it’s been also great because I have all my guys with me, all the coaches and players really on my side,” Porter said, via Pryor.
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“I understand everything about the business side of things. So there’s not really too much to go about it, but, you know, it’s been a little bit tough.”
He added: “At the end of the day, it is what it is.”
Porter was activated off the PUP list at the roster cutdown deadline on Sunday night.
“There’s definitely a process and there’s an understanding of what he was going through there with the injuries,” Steelers head coach Mike McCarthy said Tuesday, via TribLive.com’s Chris Adamski.
“There’s a process that every one of these players is going through, as far as ramping up before you go full speed on the field.”
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That ramp-up process will be monitored; however, Pittsburgh fans will keep a close watch on Porter’s contract situation, too. The Steelers open the season at home against the Atlanta Falcons on Sept. 13.
“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,” Pittsburgh general manager Omar Khan said on Monday, per ESPN.
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