Joey Porter Jr. made his message to the Steelers plain on Friday: time is running out.
With Pittsburgh and its cornerback still not close to a contract extension before the Week 1 home game against the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday, Porter addressed the situation directly and didn’t sound optimistic about a last-minute breakthrough.
“The clock is ticking. So, it is what it is at this point,” Porter said about contract negotiations.
The Steelers have a long-standing policy of not negotiating with players once the regular season begins, which is why the situation has drawn so much attention. With the deadline looming, there has been some speculation that Porter could even ask for a trade.
For now, though, the biggest question is whether he’ll be available against Atlanta. A Thursday update said his status for the game was “up in the air” after he spent most of August on the physically unable to perform list because of a back injury he “aggravated” on the first day of training camp. Brooke Pryor of ESPN reported that Porter said both a “conditioning thing” and a “back thing” could keep him out this weekend.
Porter also pushed back on the idea that he’s aiming to reset the cornerback market. Devon Witherspoon of the Seattle Seahawks set that bar this summer with a four-year, $132M deal, and Christian Gonzalez of the New England Patriots later signed a four-year extension worth $135M that reportedly included $102M guaranteed. But Porter said he’s not chasing that kind of number.
“I don't know where that came from,” Porter said about possibly wanting to become the new highest-paid cornerback in the NFL, per Brooke Pryor of ESPN. “Whoever made that, I really don't pay too much hype into it.”
Asked whether he was optimistic about getting a deal done before Sunday afternoon, Porter was blunt.
“No, not really,” he responded.
Porter had already hinted that he might not play against the Falcons if he doesn’t land an extension, and his latest comments suggest he’s prepared to sit through Sept. 13 if the deal doesn’t get done.
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