Joey Porter Jr. sends contract warning to Steelers ahead of Week 1 deadline

A Thursday update indicated that the Pittsburgh Steelers and cornerback Joey Porter Jr. were not close to coming to an agreement on a contract extension ahead of the Steelers' Week 1 home game against the Atlanta Falcons this coming Sunday. 

That's noteworthy, as the Steelers sticking to their policy of not negotiating with any player after the start of a regular season has understandably caused some to wonder if Porter could request a trade. 

As shared by Mike DeFabo of The Athletic, Porter seemed to send a strong warning to the Steelers regarding his status for at least the Falcons game while speaking with reporters on Friday. 

Joey Porter Jr. to the Steelers: "The clock's ticking"

"The clock is ticking. So, it is what it is at this point," Porter said about contract negotiations. 

It remains unknown exactly what type of deal Porter is hoping to receive from the Steelers. Devon Witherspoon of the Seattle Seahawks initially reset the market for cornerbacks this summer when he inked a four-year, $132M deal, and Christian Gonzalez of the New England Patriots later received a four-year extension worth $135M that reportedly included $102M guaranteed. 

On Friday, Porter suggested he's not looking to equal or better those deals.   

"I don't know where that came from," Porter said about possibly wanting to become the new highest-paid cornerback in the NFL, per Brooke Pryor of ESPN. "Whoever made that, I really don't pay too much hype into it."  

According to the Thursday report, Porter's status for the Falcons game was "up in the air" after he spent the majority of August on the physically unable to perform list with a supposed back injury he "aggravated" on the first day of training camp. Pryor noted that Porter said both a "conditioning thing" and a "back thing" could keep him from playing this weekend. 

Is Joey Porter Jr. optimistic about getting what he wants from the Steelers? 

Per Pryor, Porter was also asked if he's optimistic about getting a deal done before Sunday afternoon. 

"No, not really," he responded.   

Porter previously hinted that he may not play against the Falcons if he doesn't sign an extension. It sounds like he is willing to sit through Sept. 13 to rest his "ailing" back if he doesn't put pen to paper on a deal.