As the contract impasse lingers between the Steelers and cornerback Joey Porter Jr., none of the other 31 teams has made a move to try to get him.
A lengthy article from ESPN exploring the dynamics of the situation contains this key line: "[T]he team has neither made nor received any serious inquiries about the cornerback.”
Given that it’s been obvious for weeks that Porter and the Steelers aren’t seeing eye-to-eye on a potential extension, interested teams have had every reason to spark a dialogue. The absence of any such effort suggests that no one is willing to pay Porter what he wants and to give the Steelers what they’d need.
ESPN also points to two primary issues with the negotiations. One, the two sides have a “significant difference” about Porter’s value. Two, Porter wants the team to break from its habit of fully guaranteeing compensation beyond the first year of the contract.
The Steelers historically had done that only for high-end quarterbacks, like Ben Roethlisberger. As noted by ESPN, they broke from that precedent with linebacker T.J. Watt, twice.
As not noted by ESPN, they also deviated from this habit when trading for, and signing, receiver DK Metcalf in 2025; he got $60 million fully guaranteed over the first two years.
While cash-flow concerns possibly will keep the Steelers from expanding the practice to a player who won’t be paid at the top of the market, the bigger issue seems to be the value of the contract.
Either way, the team’s other internal rule regarding not doing new deals after the season begins has put everyone in an awkward spot. As noted by Steelers Depot, the team made an exception in 1995 for safety Darren Perry. At the time, the explanation from Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette was that “if they were close to a deal that would carry it over to the early part of the season.”
In this case, they could try something like “we’ll do a deal before the first game of the season in which the player plays.”
Semantics don’t matter, since no deal is close. And it’s possible Porter will continue to not play until the Steelers trade him for whatever they can get.
As an unnamed “source with knowledge of the situation” told ESPN, “I don’t know if he ever puts on a Steelers uniform again.”
For now, he won’t put on a uniform for the second game of the 2026 season. With no end to the standoff in sight, it could continue on a weekly basis until he’s traded or the Steelers decide to play hardball by fining him for refusing to play.
Steelers Clips
Any hopes that cornerback Joey Porter Jr. would be in the Steelers’ lineup for Sunday’s game against the Patriots came to an end on Friday afternoon.
Porter has been ruled out for the second straight week. Head coach Mike McCarthy said on Thursday that the team expected Porter to do more work in practice, but he wound up leaving the session early and was limited again on Friday.
Porter is listed with both a back injury and conditioning as reasons why he won’t play. He did not practice at all during training camp because he was on the physically unable to perform list and his ongoing contract impasse with the team has led to reports that he could be traded at some point during the season.
Wide receiver Michael Pittman (foot) missed his second straight practice, but the door is open for him to play after getting a questionable tag on the final report. Left tackle Troy Fautanu (ankle) was a limited participant and joins Pittman in the questionable category.
The Patriots won’t have wide receiver A.J. Brown for Sunday’s game against the Steelers, but it looks like they will have running back TreVeyon Henderson.
Henderson did not play in Week 1 because of an ankle injury he suffered during training camp. He was a full participant in practice on Wednesday, however, and he told reporters that he’s set to get back in the lineup as well.
“I’m ready to go,” Henderson said, via multiple reporters.
Henderson ran 180 times for 911 yards and nine touchdowns as a rookie. His return won’t make up for losing Brown, but adding him back into the offense should make it a little easier for the Patriots to stomach life without their top wideout.
Steelers head coach Mike McCarthy told reporters earlier on Thursday that cornerback Joey Porter Jr. was scheduled to do more at practice than he did on Wednesday.
But things have changed.
According to multiple reporters on the scene, Porter exited practice with a trainer during the portion of the session open to media.
Porter went through the team stretch and some individual drills before exiting the session.
On Wednesday, Porter was listed as limited — but not for the back injury he was limited with last week. Instead, he was listed on Wednesday as non-injury-related/conditioning.
Reporters note that there was no further update immediately available from the Steelers on Porter as he left practice.
Steelers wide receiver DK Metcalf had a rough game in Week 1, dropping passes, twice getting called for offensive pass interference, and gaining just 40 receiving yards on the 10 passes Aaron Rodgers threw to him.
Rodgers isn’t concerned.
“I’m not worried about DK at all, man,” Rodgers said, via TheAthletic.com. “I love DK. He’s one of my closest friends on the team, and I’m going to keep feeding him.”
Rodgers thought the pass interference calls were inconsistent and the Steelers’ offense was very close to a big game.
“The whole thing can be deceiving,” Rodgers said. “We had PI on a third down that could have been a touchdown. We had another blatant PI on DK that wasn’t called. We had an opportunity to [Roman Wilson] down the field with probably PI not called. He didn’t come up with it. Had DK in the end zone. For sure PI. He still almost made a ridiculous catch. And then one that DK obviously usually catches. One of those goes [our way] or two of those goes, and it’s a whole different conversation. That’s the way the league is. You can’t get too caught up in specific numbers without looking at what actually happened in the game.”
The Steelers beat the Falcons despite a mediocre game from their offense, but they will be hoping for more from both Metcalf and Rodgers on Sunday in New England.
The ramp up for Steelers cornerback Joey Porter Jr. will continue.
Head coach Mike McCarthy told reporters that Porter is once again slated to practice on Thursday.
“I thought Joey had a good day yesterday,” McCarthy said, via Mike DeFabo of TheAthletic.com. “He did everything that he was scheduled to do, so hopefully we can make some progress today.”
McCarthy added, via Brooke Pryor of ESPN, “He’s scheduled to do more today than he did yesterday.”
But, McCarthy did not commit to Porter being a full participant in practice.
Porter was listed as limited in practice on Wednesday, with his designation as not injury related/conditioning. Last week, Porter was listed as limited with a back injury.
It’s believed that Porter is still seeking a contract extension. But the Steelers have had a longstanding policy of not negotiating with players once the regular-season begins.
At a press conference before Wednesday’s practice, Steelers head coach Mike McCarthy said that the plan was for cornerback Joey Porter Jr. to try to do more in practice than he did last week.
Porter may have done more during the session, but he’s still not doing everything. Porter was listed as limited, which is the same designation he had on all three injury reports last week.
The reason given for Porter’s limitations has changed, however. Porter was listed with a back injury, but conditioning is now given as the reason for his inclusion on the practice report.
Wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr. (foot) was also listed as limited while left tackle Troy Fautanu (ankle) and tight end Darnell Washington (personal) did not participate in practice.
There is some positive news on the injury front for one of New England’s key young players.
Head coach Mike Vrabel said in his Wednesday press conference that TreVeyon Henderson should do more at practice on Wednesday as he continues to recover from an ankle injury.
Henderson did not play in the Week 1 loss to Seattle a week ago. He was on the field for Monday’s practice in a limited capacity.
“We’ll continue to evaluate that and see where he is, and hopefully that continues to trend in the right direction,” Vrabel said, via Doug Kyed of the Boston Herald.
Henderson, a second-round pick in last year’s draft, accounted for 1,132 yards from scrimmage and 10 total touchdowns as a rookie.
New England’s first injury report for the Week 2 matchup against Pittsburgh is due out later on Wednesday.
T.J. Watt’s big game helped power the Steelers to victory on Sunday.
Now he has been named AFC defensive player of the week.
Watt recorded a 35-yard pick-six, three tackles for loss, and 2.0 sacks in Pittsburgh’s 20-13 victory over Atlanta in Week 1.
It was Watt’s 10th career interception. He now joins Hall of Famer Julius Peppers as the only two players to record at least 100 sacks and 10 interceptions since 1982.
Watt now has nine career defensive player of the week awards, which ties Hall of Famers Chris Doleman, Bruce Smith, and Lawrence Taylor for the most ever.
This is his first DPOW award since 2024.
Cornerback Joey Porter Jr. appears to be moving closer to a return to the Steelers lineup.
Head coach Mike McCarthy said earlier this week that he hoped Porter would increase his practice work after missing last Sunday’s win over the Falcons. Porter spent all of training camp on the physically unable to perform list and was limited in practice last week, but McCarthy indicated he could be a full participant on Wednesday.
“Our plan is to move forward with Joey and see how much more he could do today,” McCarthy said, via 93.7 The Fan.
Porter was dealing with a back injury this summer, but he was also looking for a contract extension that did not come before Week 1. Porter has not committed to playing without a new deal and the Steelers have a policy of not negotiating during the season.
