Head coach Mike McCarthy recently noted that the Pittsburgh Steelers are at an 'impasse' with star cornerback Joey Porter Jr. This was not the news fans were hoping to hear. Porter is seeking top-of-the-market money at the CB position, but the Steelers haven't officially offered him a contract yet.
But when it was reported Thursday—hours before Pittsburgh's preseason finale against the Buffalo Bills—that the Steelers restructured the contract of wide receiver DK Metcalf, fans instantly assumed that this move was made to get a Porter deal done.
Sadly, this may not be the case.
Restructuring Metcalf's contract that has likely been on Pittsburgh's to-do list for a few months now. By doing so, the Steelers have freed up nearly $18 million in salary cap space, ESPN's Field Yates reported. But there might not be a Porter agenda attached at all. This was a necessary move.
The Pittsburgh Steelers' decision to restructure DK Metcalf's deal came down to salary cap space
Before the restructure, the Steelers sat at the bottom of the league in salary cap space with a mere $1.124 million to work with, per Over the Cap. Because of this, we knew that Pittsburgh needed to make a big financial move ahead of the 2026 season.
There are several important reasons for this.
The Steelers didn't have enough cap space to sign players to their 16-man practice squad (which they can now do starting Sunday evening after the 6 p.m. ET roster deadline). The front office may also take on dead money from potential cuts, and they always like to go into the season with at least $6-8 million in financial cushion in the event of injuries that require additional roster signings.
Now, this isn't to say that getting a Porter deal done is not a priority for Pittsburgh. Metcalf's contract extension certainly helps in this regard. We know how the Steelers typically structure their deals. The front office typically backloads contracts to take on a lower cap number up front in the first few seasons.
Thus, Metcalf's contract restructure may have freed up enough cap space to get something done with Porter.
But this team had financial needs even more pressing than that. They were 32nd in salary cap space prior to the restructure, and they needed some financial wiggle room.
Steelers fans are optimistic that a Joey Porter Jr. contract extension will soon follow, but just in case it doesn't, you might not want to hold your breath. This move was predictable and practically necessary to help give Pittsburgh some breathing room with its iffy salary cap situation.
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