The Pittsburgh Steelers have made their offseason additions for the most part. Now they are sure to turn their eyes to extending some of their in-house talent.
Pittsburgh's 2023 draft class was a banger. Even though first-round pick Broderick Jones looks like he won't be the long-term bookend tackle general manager Omar Khan was looking for, the class still produced four talented football players worthy of an early extension.
It really comes down to which of those players Pittsburgh wants to lock in now... and Joey Porter Jr. should be near the top of the list.
Joey Porter Jr.'s value to the Pittsburgh Steelers on a new deal
Joey Porter Jr. was the first of those four players drafted as the Steelers took him with the first pick of the second round (#32 overall). Since entering the league, he has played in 47 games, recording 165 tackles, 31 passes defensed, and three interceptions.
He has all of the tools to be one of the better press-man corners in the NFL, but mental lapses and inconsistency have prevented him from ascending into the upper echelons of modern-day corners who have recently driven up the top of the positional market.
Porter doesn't have the reputation to earn a contract in the realm of Trent McDuffie, Sauce Gardner, Derek Stingley Jr., or Pat Surtain II. But there are plenty of recent comps that show he could still get a sizeable deal in the second tier of the cornerback market. Here are some recent 2-year comps and how Porter Jr. stacks up against them.
*These stats are derived from Pro Football Focus
Player | Age | Draft Round | PFF Cov Grade | Cov Snaps | INT | Snaps/Target | FI % | Tot Tackles | PBU | QBR Against | Stops | Slot Snaps | Yds/Cov Snap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Joey Porter Jr. (2024-2025) | 26.1 | 2 | 66.8 | 1,181 | 2 | 8.8 | 15.67% | 85 | 15 | 75.7 | 18 | 112 | 0.79 |
Zyon McCollum (2023-2024) | 26.3 | 5 | 60.5 | 1,226 | 2 | 7.0 | 13.07% | 103 | 21 | 86.6 | 23 | 97 | 1.04 |
Jaylen Watson (2024-2025) | 28.0 | 7 | 71.3 | 732 | 2 | 8.5 | 12.79% | 60 | 7 | 70.0 | 13 | 13 | 0.85 |
Paulson Adebo (2023-2024) | 26.2 | 3 | 70.5 | 849 | 7 | 5.9 | 20.00% | 86 | 18 | 68.8 | 17 | 76 | 1.39 |
Tyson Campbell (2022-2023) | 24.5 | 2 | 66.3 | 1,094 | 4 | 7.7 | 9.15% | 86 | 11 | 100.0 | 24 | 103 | 0.88 |
Porter Jr. stacks up well in all areas. Among this group, he ranks second in coverage snaps, first in snaps per target, second in forced incompletion rate, third in pass breakups and QBR allowed, and first in yards per coverage snap. He is tied for last in interceptions with McCollum and Watson, showing he won't get a bump for ball production.
But otherwise, he's at or near the top in just about every area. Plus, he and Campbell have the best draft pedigree of the bunch.
The cap-adjusted average of the other four corners' deals results in a $19 million APY. But Porter Jr. has a good argument to match Campbell's deal (inflating for the rising cap). That would put him at roughly $22.5 million per year. This is the range I would expect a deal for him to fall into. $21 million acts as a close midpoint of that range and would make him the eighth-highest paid corner in the NFL.
Over four years, that would be $88 million in new money. Following the common structure Pittsburgh uses, the total guaranteed would be around $36.424 million, with about $22.015 million fully guaranteed. The cash flows and cap hits could look something like this.
Year | Base Salary | Prorated Bonus | Cash Flow | Cap Number |
|---|---|---|---|---|
2026 | $1,215,000 | $5,178,790 | $22,015,000 | $6,373,790 |
2027 | $14,409,000 | $4,160,000 | $14,409,000 | $18,569,000 |
2028 | $16,750,000 | $4,160,000 | $16,750,000 | $20,910,000 |
2029 | $18,750,000 | $4,160,000 | $18,750,000 | $22,910,000 |
2030 | $20,000,000 | $4,160,000 | $20,000,000 | $24,160,000 |
Porter's 2026 cash flow would be fully guaranteed, with his 2027 salary guaranteed for injury. The true effective APY of the deal, factoring in the final year of his rookie deal, would be $18,384,800. He would get 56% of the new cash through the first two years of the deal.
This would increase Porter Jr.'s 2026 cash flow by $18,091,000 and his cap number by just $1,451,000.