This time of the NFL year is usually quiet, with training camp still a month away. However, the Pittsburgh Steelers still have some business they need to get done. Near the top of that list is signing CB Joey Porter Jr. to a contract extension. He’s one of their best young defensive players after really coming into his own last season. Recent reports indicate that the two sides aren’t close on a deal, though. Some have speculated that the Steelers could sign Porter to a deal worth $25 million a year, but James Harrison disagrees.
“That’s not gonna happen,” Harrison said Friday on his Deebo and Joe podcast. “The way I’m looking at it, and the way he’s looking at it is, ‘My best years are ahead of me. They’re coming. The only reason y’all balking right now at it being around $30 is because I don’t have those accolades.’ So, this year comes, and he gets that first All-Pro or he gets that Pro Bowl.
“Now, he’s locked in at $25 [million], he’s pissed because it easily could’ve been $30 [million], or $32, $33 [million]. He could’ve reset the market after the year…It would be him not betting on himself. If I’m him, I’m betting on myself…The smart thing is to just pay the man. For the Steelers, pay him.”
The cornerback market is starting to boom, especially for top players. Porter looked like a true No. 1 corner for much of last season, so it makes sense if he’s seeking a record-setting contract.
However, it might be hard for the Steelers to justify giving him that kind of money. Consider what the top corners make. Trent McDuffie is at the top, earning $31 million per year. Sauce Gardner and Derek Stingley Jr. are right behind him, each making around $30 million annually.
The Steelers already have a lot of money invested in their defense. They just gave Nick Herbig a huge extension, too. Making that unit even more expensive by adding the NFL’s top-paid corner to it might be asking for too much, even if Porter could be worth the money.
Harrison has a solution for that, although it would still cost the Steelers a lot.
“If you’re not trying to reset the market, and you want him to take something, I think you have to fully guarantee the contract and guarantee it around $28 [million],” he said.
Getting the Steelers to fully guarantee Porter’s contract might be even harder than getting them to make him the league’s highest-paid corner. Realistically, that’s just not going to happen. The Steelers don’t even usually guarantee money beyond the first year in deals.
They’ve started to extend guarantees in recent years, but they still usually only do it for top-line players. They didn’t even guarantee T.J. Watt’s entire contract when they last signed him to an extension. The Steelers would have to believe that Porter will be the one of the best corners in the league for the next few years in order to guarantee money beyond his first year, let alone the whole thing.
Perhaps he can just hope to get the first two years of his deal guaranteed, and there’s likely going to be some give and take in these negotiations. Signing Porter to an extension might not be easy, but the Steelers can’t really afford to lose him. They’ve got no backup plan if he leaves next year.