The Pittsburgh Steelers and Joey Porter Jr. are at an impasse on contract talks, and the more we hear, the more concerning it sounds that a deal won't get done. Neither side has been willing to budge, and it's not hard to understand why general manager Omar Khan is hesitant to cave to his agent's lofty contract demands.
NFL insider Ian Rapoport recently spoke on NFL Network, where he was adamant that Porter will be the league's highest-paid cornerback after he gets a new deal—whether that's with Pittsburgh or somewhere else. Considering that title currently belongs to Devon Witherspoon with a new money average of $33 million per season, we aren't talking chump change here.
Porter is coming off an excellent 2025 season, but the latest reports suggest the coaching staff wasn't happy with the cornerback's decision to sit out all offseason. New defensive coordinator Patrick Graham wants to see what he has in his top CB.
But the longer this goes on, the more it looks like the two parties won't come to an agreement. And there are even trade rumblings brewing as a result.
Historically, the Steelers don't extend contracts during the season, as the focus is on winning football games. And with the 2026 season looming, the Steelers may have to use their trump card over Porter by threatening to slap the franchise tag on Porter if he dares to walk away from the organization during the 2027 offseason.
The Pittsburgh Steelers must use their franchise tag leverage over Joey Porter Jr. in contract talks
Both sides are playing hardball; there's no doubt about that. At some point, we can assume that one side is going to get what they want... and that needs to be the Pittsburgh Steelers.
While teams don't do it often these days, the Steelers can essentially threaten to franchise tag Porter. This would force Porter to play out the final year of his contract in 2026—a year that includes just $3.924 million in base salary and $1.443 million in guaranteed salary—before returning to the team in 2027.
If Porter's agent is unwilling to negotiate and come down on the terms, the Steelers can slap the franchise tag on Porter in March to make it so he cannot hit free agency. Right now, the projected cornerback franchise tag value for the 2027 season is roughly $23.1 million, per projections from Over the Cap. While this sum is fully guaranteed, it's far less than the $33-34 million Rapoport implies Porter will get paid in new average annual value.
But why stop there?
The Steelers don't just hold the leverage of one franchise tag over Porter, but two. Technically, NFL teams can franchise a player two years in a row before they can no longer be retained by the team. A double-franchise tag (which wouldn't happen until March of 2028) would pay the player 120% of that player's previous year's salary, or the standard CB tag for 2028—whichever is higher.
While it's hard to say exactly what this figure will look like, as other cornerbacks could get paid and raise the franchise tag rate, the Steelers might be looking at a number in the ballpark of $26-29 million (fully guaranteed) if they were to give Porter a second franchise tag in 2028.
This sum can't be spread out with void years, so the Steelers would be forced to absorb that cap number all in one season. Still, it's a significant savings overall, and Khan wouldn't have to worry about tying himself to Porter on a deal that he may eventually have to get out of. And if Porter has a bad season in 2027, no problem! They can let him walk away at that point.
So why don't teams do this more often? Simple: it's a bad PR move.
Agencies won't want to work with teams that threaten the franchise tag to their clients. Likewise, if Khan and the front office were to go this route, you can kiss any chance of extending Porter down the line goodbye.
There's also always the chance that a player could refuse to play on the tag and sit out the whole season. Porter would miss out on all of his game checks if he does this; we've seen it happen before with Le'Veon Bell in 2018—and nobody won in that scenario.
We don't know how the drama between the team and Joey Porter Jr. is going to end, but with the season approaching and no deal in place, we're getting dangerously close to the point when the Steelers need to threaten the franchise tag over their top cornerback.
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