Steelers Messed Up With Joey Porter Jr.

And he's just the beginning.

Gonzalez won't be the only top cornerback to sign a deal this offseason, as the Seattle Seahawks are working on a contract for Devon Witherspoon. Witherspoon will also sign a record-breaking deal, but it's just a matter of whether or not it's before or after Gonzalez.

Either way, the market is going to be reset not once, but twice this offseason.

The Steelers Messed Up

Porter Jr. was likely looking at a contract between $25 and $30 million per season with anywhere from $40 million to $50 million guaranteed. Chances were, he wasn't going to surpass Trent McDuffie as the highest-paid cornerback in football, but now that looks much different.

If Witherspoon and Gonzalez raise the ceiling anywhere close to $35 million per year and over $50 million guaranteed, Porter is worth much more than what he was a month ago.

The Steelers would be looking at a contract around $30 million, but likely above it. His guaranteed would easily surpass $45 million and probably be closer to $50 million. And just like that, a deal that should've caused no issues now looks like a massive deal for the Steelers.

What they should have done it get this contract settled months ago. Nick Herbig and Darnell Washington's price tags weren't going up. The team wasn't racing the clock with either of them. Porter, they were.

If this deal is done in June, the Steelers look like they got a steal for Porter Jr. Now, they're going to hope he's reasonable enough to keep his deal in the realm of reality for Pittsburgh. There's a chance he doesn't.

The "if" Porter signs just became a lot bigger. The pressure just grew dramatically. And the Steelers are now backed against the wall, in a bit of a panic situation with the one player they wanted to get a long-term deal done with more than any other.