The Steelers are still working through a standoff with Joey Porter, Jr., and the issue is exactly what you’d expect: money. Porter is pushing for a contract extension, but the two sides remain at an impasse and haven’t found common ground yet.
Around the league, cornerback prices just got another jolt. The New England Patriots and star cornerback Gonzalez reached a deal just days before the season opener with the Seattle Seahawks, and it reset the market in a big way. Gonzalez signed a four-year, $135 million contract that includes $102 million guaranteed and a $33 million signing bonus.
Porter wanted to become the highest-paid cornerback in the NFL, and the Steelers may eventually meet him with a major offer. But they probably shouldn’t go all the way there.
No knock on Porter, who is an up-and-coming cornerback, but the source makes clear he is not in Gonzalez’s tier. Gonzalez was one of the Patriots’ bright spots in the Super Bowl, and his deal should serve as the ceiling in these talks, not the floor.
That doesn’t mean a deal can’t get done. Using Gonzalez’s contract as the framework, the Steelers and Porter should still be able to work out a lucrative extension - just one that comes in below the record-setting number Gonzalez received.
Elsewhere, there’s a receiver name worth watching in Pittsburgh: Darius Slayton. After the Giants released him, the Steelers should take a look at the inconsistent but talented wideout as a possible addition.
In Other News...
Mike Tomlin Just Reopened A Coaching Possibility Steelers Fans Feared
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For Steelers fans, the more notable part is the standard Tomlin set over 19 seasons in Pittsburgh, where he won a Super Bowl and never finished with a losing record. Any talk of a comeback now comes with an important caveat, though: he would be selective about the teams he would consider, which leaves the possibility open without making it feel imminent. [Read more 🡒]
Steelers First-Round Rookie Hit With Serious Off-Field Issue Before Week 1
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For a player getting ready to begin his NFL career, it adds an unwelcome layer of off-field stress at exactly the wrong time. No arrests have been made, and while the team is moving toward its season opener, Iheanachor now has to sort through a situation that has nothing to do with football but will still follow him into the start of his pro career. [Read more 🡒]
Mike Tomlin Just Reopened A Painful Steelers Best Team Debate
Mike Tomlin has reopened one of the more familiar debates around his Steelers tenure by pointing to the 2015 team as the best group he coached over 19 seasons. Now working as an NBC analyst, Tomlin singled out a team that finished 10-6, boasted one of the most talented rosters of his run, and featured what he called one of his best offenses even though it never got the ultimate payoff.
For Pittsburgh fans, the choice is easy to understand and hard to settle. That season was undone in part by injuries to Le'Veon Bell and Antonio Brown, and it ended with a loss to the Broncos in the AFC Divisional Round, leaving the old what-if questions hanging in the air all over again. Tomlins take does not close the case so much as remind everyone why it has lingered for so long. [Read more 🡒]