The Joey Porter Jr. standoff in Pittsburgh just got a lot more complicated.
On Tuesday morning, the New England Patriots and Christian Gonzalez agreed to a record-setting four-year, $135 million extension that gives him $33.75 million in average new money. That deal pushed Gonzalez past three-time Pro Bowler Devon Witherspoon as the NFL’s highest-paid cornerback, and it immediately raised the temperature around the Steelers’ situation with Porter.
Porter’s hold-in has already stretched through the summer as Pittsburgh gets ready for its Week 1 matchup with the Atlanta Falcons. Now, with a new benchmark at the top of the market, the gap between the Steelers and their cornerback looks even harder to close.
The temptation for some fans will be obvious: pay Porter and be done with it. But the Steelers have never treated the cornerback position like a place to break the bank, and that matters here. They also haven’t seen Porter take a single practice rep in Patrick Graham’s defense, which makes the idea of handing him the richest deal at the position a huge leap.
That’s why the Steelers are being pushed toward the hard line. Trading Porter is one option if Pittsburgh wants to go that route, and there are teams that would likely send a second-round pick while also making him the league’s top-paid corner. But if the goal is to keep him in black and gold, the team has to lean into its leverage now.
Porter is in the final season of his rookie deal and is set to make $3.924 million in base salary this year, per Over the Cap. That money disappears if he stays out, and it’s nowhere near the kind of contract he’s chasing. Pittsburgh could also keep control beyond this season with franchise tags after 2026.
That said, the franchise-tag path is not clean. Porter’s side could have a doctor evaluate him and argue that an injury is keeping him off the field. The article points to Micah Parsons as a recent example of how that kind of move can play out, and notes that Porter’s agent, Andre Odom, is part of David Mulugheta’s agency at Athletes First, the same group that helped Parsons land a record-breaking deal.
So even if the Steelers technically hold three years of control, the other side may try to find a way around it. If that happens, a trade could become the next step.
Still, the message from Pittsburgh’s side should be simple: don’t blink.
Porter might be able to sit and collect what he can, but dragging this out for two or three seasons would chip away at his value and leave him older and less attractive when he eventually tries to land the kind of massive deal with $100-plus million in guaranteed money he’s after.
The situation was already messy. Gonzalez’s new deal only makes it messier. And for the Steelers, the path forward is clear: they still control Porter’s future, and they should be prepared to use it.
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