Steelers send fresh warnings to CB Joey Porter Jr. amid contract saga

The Pittsburgh Steelers traditionally pause contract talks with players once a regular season gets underway. 

While speaking with reporters on Monday, Steelers general manager Omar Khan confirmed that will remain the case regarding the future of unsettled cornerback Joey Porter Jr., who is in the final year of his existing deal.

Steelers have this Joey Porter Jr. "hope" amid contract saga

"We won't talk publicly about the negotiations per se, but Joey knows how we feel about him, and I still hope Joey finishes his career here," Khan said, per Brooke Pryor of ESPN. "...Our policy is going to remain in place, but I'm not going to talk about negotiations."

Khan made his comments after Steelers reporter Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette said during a Monday appearance on Pittsburgh radio station 102.5 WDVE that he still expected the club and Porter "to get a deal done before the end of next week." Dulac also suggested that Porter "probably wants way too much money." 

Porter reportedly is not looking to match or better the four-year, $132M contract that Devon Witherspoon of the Seattle Seahawks signed earlier this summer. That said, Christian Gonzalez and the New England Patriots are also engaged in talks about a possible extension. It's unclear if Gonzalez putting pen to paper on a deal could impact conversations between Porter and the Steelers.

Steelers also "expect" this from Joey Porter Jr.

The Steelers recently activated Porter after he spent the bulk of August on the physically unable to perform list due to a back injury he supposedly aggravated during a mobility workout on the first day of training camp. Per Anthony G. Halkias II of Steeler Nation, ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter said during a Monday appearance on "The Pat McAfee Show" that the Steelers "hope" Porter will play in the Week 1 home game against the Atlanta Falcons on Sept. 13.

Khan used somewhat stronger language regarding a possible Porter holdout.

"In the next couple of weeks, not just Joey, but anyone that we feel is healthy and available to us, we expect him to practice," Khan added. "He got taken off [PUP]. Our medical staff felt like he was good to go."

While Schefter mentioned that "there hasn’t been a lot of progress" in contract talks involving the Steelers and Porter, Schefter also acknowledged that "there’s still a lot of time and a lot of questions there." How much Porter will practice leading up to the second Sunday of September is a question that could have a fascinating answer for as long as the 26-year-old doesn't have a signed extension in hand.