Superstars Are Preventing Steelers From Giving Economical Extension To Joey Porter Jr

Fans of the Pittsburgh Steelers have one thing on their mind during the dead of the 2026 offseason: the contract status of Joey Porter Jr. The former second-round pick established himself as a top-tier cornerback during the 2025 campaign, even if other teams don't respect him and his lack of interceptions. At the end of the day, he is a shutdown corner that can eliminate any team's top wide receiver by himself. Those kinds of players are very rare, and it would be foolish for Pittsburgh to allow him to leave in free agency in 2027. 

It seems like the Steelers will have to make a choice soon. In his latest column on the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, insider Ray Fittipaldo explained what the holdup is in Porter's extension at this point.

"The spike in cornerback prices have given general managers across the league reason to pause. The Steelers very clearly value edge rushers more than corners," Fittipaldo explained. "They’re paying their top three edge rushers more than $80 million annually. It’s been a consistent aspect of their team building for years. Pass rushers have always been favored by the organization. Where that leaves Porter is anyone’s guess."

The Steelers recently paid Porter's draft classmate Nick Herbig. He received an extension worth $25 million per year. The front office went against the grain with this move, as they still have other big contracts at the edge rusher position. TJ Watt's mammoth extension kicked in back in March while Alex Highsmith is in the middle of his latest deal. 

That's a lot of money being paid to one position group, and every report has said that the Steelers have no interest in trading either of them away yet. Maybe it happens after the upcoming season, but no one knows for sure. What is known, however, is that this has become a roadblock for Porter, and Pittsburgh doesn't want to give him what he wants due to all the other contracts on the books.

The salary cap is expected to continue to rise. As of now, though, the Steelers only have roughly $6.6 million in cap space. That is not enough money to secure the services of Porter. Even if the cap rises a substantial $10 million, money would still need to be freed up to pay him as well as future draftees. They can make plenty of cap casualties, but at the end of the day, Pittsburgh will have to choose between the star cornerback and an edge rusher.

Steelers Have To Make Easy Decision

The right choice could not be clearer: pay Porter and trade away an edge rusher. The Steelers seemingly develop outside linebackers on an assembly line. If Watt or Highsmith get dealt away, Jack Sawyer will be right there to take more reps and develop into a reliable linebacker as well. Odds are Pittsburgh can find yet another stud at the position in the middle rounds of the draft yet again, like it did with Herbig and Sawyer. 

Meanwhile, the Steelers have been atrocious at drafting and developing cornerbacks outside of Porter. As Fittipaldo mentioned, Pittsburgh has not had a corner that it drafted receive an extension since Cameron Sutton, who was a slot corner. This team has not had an outside cornerback play at this level since the great Ike Taylor retired. This position is a legitimate need.

In 2025, Porter gave up a sub-50% completion rate to opposing quarterbacks while limiting the receivers he matched up with to 2-3 receptions per game for about 24 yards. That is beyond elite. The odds of the Steelers finding anyone who can replicate that is slim to none, while the odds of them replacing someone like Highsmith is much higher. Letting the cornerback walk in free agency would be insane.

What do you think about the Steelers' edge rushers holding up the market for Porter? Let us know on X at @Steelers_ChrisB.

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