playBrooke PryorCloseBrooke PryorESPN Staff WriterBrooke Pryor is a reporter for NFL Nation at ESPN who has covered the Pittsburgh Steelers since 2019. She previously covered the Kansas City Chiefs for the Kansas City Star and the University of Oklahoma for The Oklahoman. and Jeremy FowlerCloseJeremy Fowlersenior NFL national reporterJeremy Fowler is a senior national NFL writer for ESPN, covering the entire league including breaking news. Jeremy also contributes to SportsCenter both as a studio analyst and a sideline reporter covering for NFL games. He is an Orlando, Florida native who joined ESPN in 2014 after covering college football for CBSSports.com.Multiple AuthorsSep 18, 2026, 06:00 AM ETOpen Extended ReactionsPITTSBURGH — After navigating through nearly two feet of snow dumped on the city by Winter Storm Fern, cornerback Joey Porter Jr. slipped in the PNC Champions Club at Acrisure Stadium through a side door on Jan. 27 and took a seat next to his dad, Joey Porter Sr., facing the stage.In front of the pair, the Pittsburgh Steelers introduced Mike McCarthy as the team’s next head coach, two central figures in the organization’s future staring at each other face to face as the past looked on.A legacy player and the team’s first 2023 second-round pick, Porter was the perfect bridge for the organization as it transitioned from Mike Tomlin to McCarthy.Nine months later, Porter’s future with the team he grew up around is unclear and becoming less certain by the day.
After lengthy and contentious negotiations, ones that continued until just hours before kickoff against the visiting Atlanta Falcons in Week 1, the Steelers and Porter’s side failed to agree to a contract extension prior to the start of the 2026 regular season.Porter, meanwhile, was inactive for the season opener, instead watching the game from the sideline in a gray sweatshirt and gray Steelers shorts. McCarthy decided to hold Porter out against the Falcons because he hadn’t completed the ramp-up period in his return to practice. The cornerback was placed on the physically unable to perform list and missed all of training camp with an aggravated back injury he reported to the team following a mobility workout on the first day on July 28.While the plan was to increase Porter’s workload this week, the cornerback left Thursday’s practice with an athletic trainer during the media viewing window. Before his early exit, Porter stretched with the team and did a rep of a ball-security drill.
Unlike Wednesday’s practice report in which he was listed as a limited participant with “Not Injury Related — conditioning” as his official injury, Thursday’s report listed a back injury. Porter, the team said, was cleared of the previous back injury earlier in the week, though McCarthy declined to give specifics on Porter’s timeline or availability for Sunday’s Week 2 game at the New England Patriots (1 p.m. ET, CBS).”I’m with Joe, whatever he’s doing — whether it’s injury, whether it’s contract, whatever it is, I respect it,” Steelers linebacker Patrick Queen said after Thursday’s practice. “I’m behind him 100%.
I tell him every single time, ‘I respect how you go about your business every single day.'”Thursday night, some close to the situation sensed a fracture in the relationship between Porter and the organization.”I don’t know if he ever puts on a Steelers uniform again,” a source with knowledge of the situation told ESPN.That leaves the Steelers and their homegrown talent in limbo, a place that seemed unlikely when Porter arrived at Acrisure Stadium to greet his new coach in January.The two sides have been here because of a significant difference between the Steelers’ view of Porter’s value and how Porter values himself. The core issue is the structure of the contract, sources told ESPN, and the Steelers’ organizational precedent that doesn’t fully guarantee a healthy portion of the contract was considered a sizable hurdle.Many of the Steelers past deals for key players fully guarantee only the first year. That was the case for Porter’s draft mates, Keeanu Benton, Darnell Washington and Nick Herbig, whose four-year extensions this summer guaranteed 2027 for injury only. Porter wants stronger guarantees, sources said.
Pittsburgh has broken precedent in the past. For example, Pittsburgh guaranteed $108 million for T.J. Watt in the summer of 2025. While Porter doesn’t have the megastar cachet of Watt, he’s still a high-level cover corner.The sides simply did not get close to bridging that guaranteed gap, which sources say made any talks about a per-year average on a deal moot.
“It never even got that far,” a source said.Porter believes that he deserves a contract commensurate with his impressive skill set. However, Porter hasn’t been voted to a Pro Bowl or All-Pro team during his three seasons, and each of the 10 highest-paid corners on a per-year average have at least one Pro Bowl or All-Pro nod. All but one (Dallas’ DaRon Bland) are former first-round picks.As a second-round selection, Porter isn’t in the same boat as Christian Gonzalez and Devon Witherspoon, who have reset the market with their own extensions this offseason. Though the pair were drafted in the same class as Porter in 2023 and are also up-and-coming cornerbacks, Gonzalez and Witherspoon already had their fifth-year options picked up, a contract clause attached only to first-round picks.
While Porter has the opportunity to hit free agency a year earlier, the Patriots and Seattle Seahawks were motivated to get extensions done to alleviate the 2027 cap hit that comes with the fifth-year guarantees.With a year still left on his rookie deal, Porter also isn’t in the same position as Le’Veon Bell was in 2018, when the running back held out and refused to sign his second consecutive franchise tag with Pittsburgh. Unlike Bell, Porter is still under contract. Not only do the Steelers have control of Porter’s rights this season, but the team could also franchise tag him before he’s able to hit free agency in 2027.The emergence of cornerback Asante Samuel Jr. is a factor, too. With Porter out, the Steelers are comfortable with Samuel as a starter.A 2021 Los Angeles Chargers second-round pick, Samuel landed with the Steelers late last season once he was cleared to return to football activities following spinal fusion surgery.
He gave the secondary an immediate boost in 2025, leading to him signing a one-year, $4 million deal to return to the Steelers. He was a standout during training camp and the preseason. Listed as a co-starter alongside Porter on the depth chart, he played all 60 defensive snaps in Porter’s absence against the Falcons on Sunday.The Steelers could trade Porter, though the team has neither made nor received any serious inquiries about the cornerback. One NFL executive believes the Steelers could get a second-round pick in exchange for Porter and a quality Day 3 draft selection.Before the season opener, Porter was hopeful that his future remained with the organization.
But sources have described Porter as “disappointed” a deal couldn’t be made and “frustrated” by the situation. Because of that, Porter requested a trade, per ESPN senior NFL insider Adam Schefter and NFL Network national insider Ian Rapoport, a possibility that seemed inconceivable nine months ago. The notion of a trade was not surprising to multiple sources who first brought up the possibility to ESPN in August, when the Steelers hadn’t made a formal offer and gave the full impression they wanted Porter to play out his rookie deal.Adding to that emotion is Porter’s history with the Steelers.”I’m from here,” Porter said on Sept. 1. “My family lives here.
My cousin went to high school here, so they know I’m a hometown kid.”Porter’s dad was a linebacker for the Steelers from 1999 to 2006 and had 98 sacks in 13 seasons. He eventually returned as a defensive assistant in 2014 and remained as a coach with the team through 2018. Last year, Porter was in
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