The Steelers may be headed into Week 1 without Joey Porter Jr., and the picture around the cornerback is getting murkier by the hour.
Porter is listed as questionable for Pittsburgh’s matchup with the Atlanta Falcons because of a back injury, and he spent all of training camp on the PUP list with the same issue. He worked through three limited practices during the week, but his status still isn’t settled.
That uncertainty comes with another layer: Porter has been in a contract standoff with the team all offseason. And according to the latest reporting, the situation could be heading in another direction entirely.
UPDATE: ESPN's Adam Schefter and Ian Rapoport report that Porter Jr. is unlikely to play today, and the possibility of a trade is in play for the Steelers cornerback.
"Steelers CB Joey Porter Jr., who has been embroiled in a contract dispute all summer, is unlikely to play Sunday against the Falcons because of a back injury, per me and (Ian Rapoport)," Schefter wrote.
END OF UPDATE
For now, Porter’s availability remains up in the air. When he was asked this week whether he expected to play, he didn’t exactly sound certain.
"I think so," Porter said when asked if he's ready to play, according to Nick Farabaugh of Penn Live.
The Steelers will have to make their final call when inactives are released an hour and a half before the 1 p.m. ET kickoff.
The contract situation doesn’t look much cleaner. Porter wasn’t exactly bullish about the chances of a new deal getting done before Sunday.
“I hope so, man, that’s all I can do is just hope," he said, per ESPN's Brooke Pryor.
There was also a rumor making the rounds that Porter wanted to become the highest-paid cornerback in the NFL, but he pushed back hard on that claim.
“I don't know where that came from. Whoever made that, I really don't pay too much hype into it," Porter said.
NFL Network's Mike Garafolo reported on Sept. 8 that the Steelers have already made an offer, but the two sides "are not close."
"The Steelers have made an offer to CB Joey Porter Jr., though sources indicate the sides are not close at this point. Still a lot of work to be done in the coming days to reach a deal," Garafolo wrote.
So with kickoff approaching, Porter’s status is still cloudy on two fronts: whether he’ll be on the field, and whether this standoff is anywhere close to being resolved.
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