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Joey Porter Jr.'s contract situation looks awfully similar for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The 26-year-old star cornerback was activated off the PUP list at the roster cutdown deadline and returned to practice as the Steelers held a walkthrough on September 1, though he was rather guarded regarding his ongoing extension negotiations with the team and provided vague answers when asked if he'd play in Week 1 should the two sides not reach an agreement.
The leverage in this case isn't in the hands of Porter Jr. and his camp, meaning he has to be noncommittal on the idea of suiting up without a new contract in place.
Should Porter Jr. end up holding in once the season begins, Pittsburgh's minds would immediately jump to the circumstances surrounding Le'Veon Bell back in 2018.
Porter Jr. was around the team that year because his father, franchise legend Joey Porter Sr., was the Steelers' outside linebackers coach.
Now, ironically enough, Porter Jr. could potentially follow in Bell's footsteps depending on how things play out from here.
Déjà Vu?
The comparisons to Bell can't be made in totality until, or unless, Porter Jr. actually makes the decision to sit out of games should he not get a deal that's to his liking and therefore opts to wait the situation out.
In Bell's case, he missed the entirety of training camp in 2017 while holding out before ultimately signing the franchise tag for $12.1 million less than a week before Pittsburgh's season opener against the Cleveland Browns.
The Steelers placed the franchise tag on Bell once again in March 2018, and they did not come to terms with Bell on a long-term deal before the deadline in mid-July.
This time around, however, Bell never reported, which came to the ire of some of his teammates. He later entered free agency and signed a four-year, $52.5 million deal with the New York Jets, which he never saw the end of.
Bell was cut by the Jets during the 2020 campaign, and he bounced around between the Kansas City Chiefs, Baltimore Ravens and Tampa Bay Buccaneers from there while never appearing in another game after 2021.
Would Porter Jr. Ever Actually Hold Out?
Simply put, it feels like there's far too much on the line for Porter Jr. to sit out of regular season games without an extension in hand.
For one, there's a real chance it would hurt his value in any future negotiations. Additionally, his legacy and reputation would also be delivered a hit if he keeps himself out of contests in 2026, damaging the goodwill he's built up throughout his career up to this point in the process.
Porter Jr. certainly has the right to feel like he played himself into a massive deal after his breakout 2025 campaign. If his price tag isn't met, it's at least a little understandable if he doesn't want to put his body on the line and risk an injury.
Again, though, the Steelers have the upper hand. They can franchise tag him next offseason, and while they'd be negatively affected if he doesn't play due to the fact that he's their No. 1 corner, Porter Jr. just has more to lose in this situation.
There's still a little under two weeks before Pittsburgh's Week 1 matchup with the Atlanta Falcons, which will serve as the cut-off point for contract talks before the season begins, leaving little time for the sides to figure things out before the threat of a potential holdout becomes increasingly real.
More must-reads:
- Insider hints at source of animosity between Christian Gonzalez, Patriots
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