Joey Porter Jr. wants to be paid like one of the NFL’s top cornerbacks. The question the Pittsburgh Steelers are likely dealing with is whether his body of work supports that steep a price.
Former NFL GM and SiriusXM NFL Radio host Pat Kirwan pushed back on Porter’s reported asking price during a discussion on “Movin’ the Chains.”
“The rumor is that he wants 30 million,” Kirwan said.
That changes the entire conversation. There’s a difference between wanting to be paid as a core young starter and wanting to reset the Steelers’ internal expectations at cornerback. With his size, length, physicality, and flashes of shutdown, Porter’s talent is evident. Those abilities are why this negotiation matters in the first place.
But $30 million per year puts him in rare company, and that’s where there’s an argument to be made.
“There’s only two corners making the $30 million, Sauce Gardner and Trent McDuffie at $31 million,” Kirwan said.
Joey Porter Jr. and the Pittsburgh Steelers may be in for a long contract battle if he wants top corner money
Porter Jr. simply doesn't have a case to be in the same tier as the top earners in the league. Gardner and McDuffie are young corners who have already reached the highest tier at the position. Gardner's resume includes an All-Pro and former Defensive Rookie of the Year recognition. McDuffie is an All-Pro and two-time Super Bowl champion.
There’s an important detail in how those contracts happened, though. Gardner and McDuffie didn’t get those deals from the teams that drafted them. The New York Jets moved Gardner, and the Kansas City Chiefs moved McDuffie. Their new teams, the Indianapolis Colts and Los Angeles Rams, paid the premium, which shows just how uncomfortable even the original teams can be with handing out that kind of cornerback money.
The Steelers have to decide whether Porter belongs in that conversation or whether he’s trying to jump a tier before his production fully supports it.
“So is Joey Porter gonna settle for 24 million a year?” Kirwan said. “Is he gonna fight to get to where he thinks Sauce Gardner is?”
That’s at the heart of the negotiation. Porter may view himself as that type of player, and the Steelers may believe he can become that type of player. But contract talks rarely run on projection alone -- they operate on comps, leverage, production, and timing.
Kirwan pointed to a different contract as the more logical starting place.
“I think the production says they should be working off Alontae Taylor’s deal, which was three years for 58 million,” Kirwan said. “But I don’t think the player will take it.”
Of course, he probably won’t.
At $19 million, Taylor’s deal comes in well below the neighborhood Porter appears to be eyeing. It could feel like a step down from where Porter sees himself, but it may be closer to where the numbers point for the Steelers.
That doesn’t mean Porter isn’t valuable, nor does it mean Pittsburgh should play hardball. He’s still one of their most important young defensive players, and letting this drag into training camp would be dangerous with a new defensive scheme being installed.
Porter may want Gardner or McDuffie money, but wanting that level of deal and proving that level of market are two different things.
The Steelers don't have to offer Porter a deal this offseason and, instead, force him into a prove-it season. But they risk free agency and Porter perhaps wanting to test the market.
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