![\"Joey](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/GettyImages-1913322549.jpg\")
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NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport provided details Sunday morning why the Pittsburgh Steelers weren’t able to sign cornerback Joey Porter Jr. to a contract extension.<\/p>\n
The Pittsburgh Steelers<\/a> ultimately reached the conclusion this week that there was no path forward with cornerback Joey Porter Jr. other than a trade. So, the Steelers shipped him out of town to the highest bidder.<\/p>\n NFL<\/a> Network\u2019s Ian Rapoport provided more details Sunday, though, about how the team and cornerback reached that ending. <\/p>\n Rapoport\u2019s report<\/a> confirmed details that a lot of pundits suspected. The Steelers had a very competitive average annual salary offer to Porter but were unwilling to include any guaranteed money beyond the first season of the deal.<\/p>\n \u201cAs for why the trade happened, sources pointed to the Steelers\u2019 general philosophy of avoiding second-year guarantees as the main reason,\u201d wrote Rapoport<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cPittsburgh did offer Porter a contract that, with some work, could have been acceptable to keep him with the team. The Steelers presented Porter with a deal that reached $28 million in average annual value \u2014 a pitch that would have been the starting point for a deal to be consummated.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThere was significant money guaranteed for injury, but not fully in the second year, as the Steelers held firm on a stance they have used often over the past few years.\u201d<\/p>\n At $28 million per season, Porter would have become the seventh-highest paid cornerback in the league. But the guaranteed money would have fallen short of what other star cornerbacks have received recently.<\/p>\n Other top cornerbacks Devon Witherspoon<\/a> and Christian Gonzalez<\/a> each had their signing bonus and 2026 plus 2027 salaries fully guaranteed with their new deals this summer.<\/p>\n Guaranteed Money Sticking Point for Steelers in Joey Porter Jr. Contract Talks The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette\u2019s Gerry Dulac previously reported the Steelers offered $27 million annually to Porter. The Steelers apparently beat that report with an extra million. But as Dulac said in August, Rapoport reported the guaranteed money was the issue.<\/p>\n The NFL Network insider wrote<\/a> the Green Bay Packers<\/a> and Cincinnati Bengals are the only other teams in the league besides the Steelers that don\u2019t offer guaranteed money beyond the first season. <\/p>\n Recently, the Steelers offered guaranteed money in the second year for edge rusher T.J. Watt<\/a> and wide receiver D.K. Metcalf. But they didn\u2019t include that in the extension for Porter.<\/p>\n The cornerback told reporters in his first media session for the Cowboys that he felt disrespected by the Steelers offer. The guaranteed money was likely why.<\/p>\n It wasn\u2019t the money, per se. What the offer told Porter was the team didn\u2019t see him as an elite cornerback like Witherspoon and Gonzalez. Most pundits would agree, but what it also revealed was the Steelers didn\u2019t view Porter as important to their roster as either Watt or Metcalf.<\/p>\n While Porter is not an established veteran like Watt or Metcalf, he was arguably more important to the team\u2019s future before the trade.<\/p>\n Will Steelers Change Their Guaranteed Money Policy? With the Porter trade, the Steelers ended the saga surrounding the cornerback. That\u2019s the good news, as the players and organization can now completely focus on the season.<\/p>\n But going forward, hopefully the Steelers learn from this experience. Because it\u2019s going to be painful for a lot of fans to see Porter play for the Cowboys and perhaps another new team next season.<\/p>\n Porter wanted out of Pittsburgh so badly that he was willing to accept not getting a new deal immediately from Dallas. In 2026, cornerback will only make $3.73 million<\/a>.<\/p>\n That\u2019s a lot less than the guaranteed money Porter would have received with his Steelers extension. But the cornerback is likely hopeful this is the better financial decision for him a year or two from now.<\/p>\n For the Steelers, this should be a lessoned learned. Some of the team\u2019s policies are outdated in the modern NFL. Steelers Depot\u2019s Joe Clark called Pittsburgh\u2019s philosophy toward guaranteed contracts \u201cantiquated.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cGuaranteed money is becoming more important in potential earnings, and the Steelers\u2019 philosophy could cost them players beyond Porter if they don\u2019t change it,\u201d wrote Clark<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cIf the team truly wants to retain its top talent and sign its best players to second contracts, it needs to look in the mirror and decide if its contract philosophy is worth it.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tDave Holcomb<\/a> is a sports reporter covering the NFL and MLB for Heavy.com, with a focus on the Pittsburgh Steelers and a variety of other NFL teams. Originally from Pittsburgh, Holcomb has covered college and professional sports for outlets including FanSided, Rotowire and Yardbarker. More about Dave Holcomb<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport provided details Sunday morning why the Pittsburgh Steelers weren’t able to sign cornerback…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":299943,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[73,75,74],"class_list":["post-299942","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh-headlines","tag-pittsburgh-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/299942","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=299942"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/299942\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/299943"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=299942"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=299942"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=299942"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}GettyNFL Network\u2019s Ian Rapoport provided details Sunday morning why the Pittsburgh Steelers weren\u2019t able to sign cornerback Joey Porter Jr. to a contract extension.<\/p>\n![\"Joey](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/GettyImages-1699360756-5_b174e7.jpg\")
GettyCornerback Joey Porter Jr. will make his Dallas Cowboys<\/a> debut in Week 4.<\/p>\n