The Pittsburgh Steelers have repeatedly insisted that a new era has arrived, but one longstanding organizational practice could prevent the franchise from completing its most important remaining piece of business.
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Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Joey Porter Jr. (24) laughs on the sideline while watching a practice session at Saint Vincent College.
Contract negotiations with Joey Porter Jr. have reached an impasse as the cornerback enters the final year of his rookie agreement. Pittsburgh still has time to resolve the situation, but its traditional refusal to negotiate once the regular season begins has created a rapidly approaching deadline.
Mike Florio believes that self-imposed restriction could seriously hurt the Steelers and their general manager Omar Khan. Instead of preserving leverage, Pittsburgh would voluntarily eliminate one possible path toward keeping a foundational defensive player satisfied and under contract.
"For him [Joey Porter Jr.], it's a much different situation because the Steelers have what I think is a stupid procedure," Florio said while discussing Porter with Chris Simms on Pro Football Talk Live. "Where they say, once Week 1 comes, we aren't doing any contracts. I think you hurt yourself by doing that."
Florio's criticism attacks something larger than this single negotiation. Pittsburgh has changed head coaches, handed the offense to Mike McCarthy and publicly embraced a different standard. However, the front office is still following a policy that could make its most complicated contract situation even harder to solve.
Refusing to negotiate during the season may have once helped the Steelers prevent distractions. It established a firm boundary and forced both sides to conduct serious business before meaningful football began.
That logic becomes much harder to defend when the deadline works against Pittsburgh. If the organization and Porter remain far apart entering Week 1, shutting down communication would not solve their disagreement. It would merely guarantee that no solution could arrive until after the season.
"You remove an option, a tool for doing business," Florio said. "And if they don't have a deal with Joey Porter Jr. in Week 1 and they say, 'That's it. We aren't doing a deal,' he may not play at all this year. He may do what Micah Parsons did last year."
Florio then presented the possibility that Porter could continue reporting discomfort from his back injury and remain unavailable. That is a hypothetical scenario raised by Florio, not an accusation that Porter has fabricated his current condition or intends to miss the season.
Still, the warning exposes the danger of allowing distrust to grow. Porter has been on the physically unable to perform list since suffering a back injury early in training camp. With his contract unresolved, every additional absence will naturally produce questions about where the physical issue ends and the business dispute begins.
McCarthy publicly acknowledged the impasse but made it clear that he wants an opportunity to coach Porter. That creates an uncomfortable separation between Pittsburgh's football operation and the organizational policy governing negotiations. The Steelers also must decide what Porter is actually worth. He has developed into an important starter, but Simms does not believe his current performance places him among the NFL's best cornerbacks.
"I would be careful there," Chris Simms said. "I would. It sounds like he's asking for a ton of money. What I would say is, he's nowhere near in the class [of the top cornerbacks] we just talked about, and even the class below that, I'm not sure he's even there."
That evaluation represents the strongest argument for Pittsburgh refusing to meet Porter's apparent asking price. Paying a player based primarily on potential can create a damaging contract if his production never reaches the level attached to his salary.
Steelers Must Decide Whether Tradition Is Helping Or Hurting
The organization should not hand Porter a market-setting contract simply because Week 1 is approaching. Simms raised a fair concern about whether the cornerback has earned that status, and Pittsburgh must protect itself from paying elite money for unproven elite production.
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Pittsburgh Steelers Head Coach Mike McCarthy during 2026 training camp at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, PA.
Nevertheless, Florio is correct about the larger procedural problem. McCarthy can modernize the offense and establish a different culture, but Pittsburgh's new era will remain partially trapped by the past if the franchise continues protecting traditions that no longer serve a practical purpose.
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