The Steelers’ Joey Porter Jr. situation is turning into a simple question with a complicated answer: pay him, or move him.
That’s the view Jourdan Rodrigue laid out on the NFL Daily Podcast, where she said Pittsburgh should stop dragging this out and trade the cornerback now rather than let the issue linger into the season. She pointed to the Dallas Cowboys as the obvious destination.
"If you're not going to pay Joey Porter Jr., you've gotta trade him to the Dallas Cowboys," Rodrigue said. "My stance has been pay Joey Porter Jr.
Christian Gonzalez just got paid. I thought there was some eyeballing of seeing where each corner stood financially and then maybe the contract getting resolved.
After that, I think he's one of the best corners in the NFL...
"I think he has such a high ceiling... If teams like the Dallas Cowboys are out there saying, 'Our secondary needs help.
We have a lot of money.' You should pay him.
If you're not going to pay him, just move on. If it's inevitable, just make it immediate."
That’s the cleanest path here. If Pittsburgh isn’t going to meet Porter’s number, waiting only makes the situation messier. A trade now would give the Steelers the best return they’re going to get, while also giving Porter a chance to land the long-term deal he wants without having to sit around and wonder what happens next offseason.
If the Steelers keep him for another year, they’d still have the franchise tag in their back pocket next offseason. But that only pushes the problem down the road, and it could cost Porter money. It would also chip away at his trade value.
That’s why moving on now makes the most sense if a deal can’t be reached. And if the Cowboys are willing to get involved again, there’s at least a fit worth exploring.
Still, the preferred outcome is obvious: pay Porter. The Steelers shouldn’t be digging in this hard, and at this point it feels like Pittsburgh is the side creating the friction.
Porter, who is 26, deserves a deal that reflects his value. The number mentioned here is around $30 million per year and $60 million guaranteed. If the Steelers won’t go there and Porter won’t come down, then the clock is already running out on a clean resolution.
Otherwise, this becomes nothing but noise around Pittsburgh right before the season.
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