Joey Porter Jr contract negotiations

As I said, are you alright with the Steelers paying him #1 money if that's what he's after? We all know they need to get better in the secondary. Do you think Porter is the best CB in the league?

 

He is not my #1 at the moment , but he could become the best ..So even as a top 5 as I think he is ,I have no problem paying him #! money .. If he was a OLB the Steelers wouldn't think twice , they need to approach top level DB'S the same and even better IMO...

So again I say pay the man..

 

It isn't smart at all. If they give a little and top 5 DB money is "enough" (the poor, destitate young man) then okay. Given JPJ isn't a top DB in this league, I'd argue not even top 5, he shouldn't get top 5 money, but you can wager a bit more that his best seasons are the next few and have a nice "out" after 3 more seasons.

by itself, trading or not paying JPJ seems silly, but you have to consider WHERE all your funds are allocated and all that cap money to JPJ means we have to let another talented player walk next year or the year after. It's a balancing act.

We're better with JPJ in 2026 (and 2027), but at what cost to another position group? I hope we sign him, but not at #1, market setting rate, that will crush another position in the near future.

The GOOD news is, we likely won't have top QB money for a few more years (at the earliest) so the big CAP hog is still in the pen, hibernating. We hope that HOG is running wild and rough-shod all over the farm (and CAP) in 2029 or 2030 (that would mean a top 10 franchise QB was found).

 

Everyone? I saw one report with no source, then bloggers who don't actually have sources regurgitating it.

 

Joey Porter is now off the PUP list. The Steelers removed Porter from the PUP list and added him to their 53-man roster.

Porter will now be fined every day he misses practice and will NOT be paid for any games he misses.

 

I guess that means this could get ugly or he will honor his contract. He’s in the prime of his career over the next 2/3 years. Franchise him next year then let someone else pay for his decline.

 

I’m thinking he has come to realize his shenanigans had no affect on the Steelers and that his best bet for a good contract this year or next was to show up and play

 

Franchising him would not be bad for JPJr

I believe the tag value is the average of the top 5 which may be more than the Steelers were offering

 

Your response was predictable.

 

Good let the fines begin. He should have understand he lacked leverage in this situation. His agent misguided him here by trying to strong arm the Steelers. It’s all about JPJ’s emotions being hurt at this point because he was prioritized above the other signings and they aren’t willing to pay him as a top five cb. More practical heads usually get much further when negotiating with the Steelers.

 

It’s already ugly. They should have never tried to strong arm the Steelers when they didn’t have the leverage. They let emotions drive this whole process. That’s my biggest issue with JPJ is his ego. There is no place for ego in negotiations.

 

But his pride won’t ever publicly admit to that.

 

I do t know I think the franchise tag would be around 23-24 million. I think JPJ was expecting 30 million plus.

 

He won't be a UFA next year either. Because we'll tag him. Then we can tag him again the year after that.

That team leverage is part of the negotiations.

Just like it was for Witherspoon, who signed for $33mm.

CB has been undervalued for a while. That's changing this offseason. Unfortunately, right when we're about to sign the best CB we've drafted since Woodson (when Noll was coaching the team). Ike was also a good CB, but Porter's first 3 years are much better because Ike wasn't even a regular starter until year 3.

 

The funny thing is the Steelers said they were open to listening to trade offers the last few days although they weren’t actively seeking to trade anyone. Reading through the tea leaves, that was an open door for teams to enquirer about JPJ. If teams valued him as a top five CB I’m willing to bet a first round pick would have been on the table and I’m willing to bet the Steelers probably would have taken it. The fact he wasn’t traded was telling in how teams around the league view him, as in the compensation offered wasn’t commesorate of a top 5 cb in the league.

 

I wouldn’t say Porter is a better than Ike just yet. First and second year players rarely started on Lebeau defenses because it was very complex. Ike was a shutdown cb in his own right who was a. Enter run defender than Porter. If Porter has a couple more years like he did this last year then maybe he is better than Ike. You need to give it more time.

 

Porter may not have an overall career as good as Ike's was. But his career to date is miles better than where Ike was at the same point in his career.

What I was trying to say in the bracketed part is that I'm just comparing the first 3 years of their careers...which is all Porter has to date.

Ike started 2 games in his first 2 seasons and 17 games in his first 3 years.

Since his first year, Porter has often been lining up against the best WRs on other teams. And doing a really good job of it. Too many penalties, but he started to get control of that better last year. And it's probably his aggressiveness that makes it so he doesn't give up TDs.

 

Again what part of first and second year players rarely started in Lebeau defenses did you miss. In addition longetivity matters. You can’t state Porter is better than Ike he has only played three years.

 

I can see that you weren't hired for your disposition!

Porter is better than Ike (so far).

As I said in the post you quoted here, it's possible that he won't have as good a total career as Ike...I could have phrased that as "what part of 'Porter may not have an overall career as good as Ike's was' did you miss".

But I didn't want look like a jerk

We're saying the same think I think.

 

You completely dismiss the whole point about the complexity of Lebeau’s defense. Heyward couldn’t get in the field for years, our Dline was also loaded at the time. Polamalu wasn’t very good his first year. Harrison was cut multiple times. They all turned out pretty good once they got a grasp of his defense. It is Apple and,oranges you can’t really compare Ike and JPJ in their first three years.

A better analogy is to compare their first year starting. Or you could say JPJ when drafted was a higher pedigree than Ike and the expectation was higher based on where he was drafted.

 

That's a different way to compare them sure.

You'd probably also want to control for how the passing game has changed since the early 2000s. And probably for quality of team mates too.

It's too bad sites like PFR don't have the advanced pass defense stats back that far. It would be interesting to see that data for Ike (e.g. comp%, yards, TDs allowed, targets, ADOT, etc). My guess is that he would do well in these categories...particularly after he got his feet under him.

There's clearly a reason that I specifically called out Ike as being the other good CB we drafted since Woodson. Because he was very good too.

 

Ike Taylor won a Super Bowl and started in an AFC Championship in his 2nd and 3rd seasons. While covering the opposing team's #1 WR throughout 04 and 05 seasons... his 2nd and 3rd seasons. Also made an INT at the end of SBXL, IIRC.

JPJ hasn't sniffed a conference championship game. Get back with me when Steelers win playoff games with JPJ starting and shutting down #1 WRs. Ocho Cinco and Marvin Harrison were damn good WRs at the time... last time I checked.

 

Ike was a very good player. Before Porter he's the best CB we drafted since Woodson (which is why I specifically mentioned him).

Ike did start in the playoffs in 2005 (his 3rd season). But he did not have a start in the playoffs in his 2nd season (2004).

While Ike was a very good CB and an important piece of the team, arguing that Ike was the reason that team got to the AFCC and the SB and Porter is the reason we haven't had playoff success seems to be going a bit too far IMO.

Clark Haggans started on the team in 2025 too. But I don't think any Steelers fan would seriously consider the idea that Haggans was better than TJ, right? Even though Haggans won a SB and TJ hasn't won a playoff game.

Clearly Ike is much better than Haggans was. But just counting SB rings or playoff wins isn't a great metric for who was a better player. Especially when you're not talking about QBs.

 

I actually see a lot of similarities between the two. Both were tall and lanky and neither is particularly adept at intercepting the ball. Neither is close to Woodson. He was on a different level.

I do agree with you that today’s nfl is probably much harder to defend the pass because officiating is more harsh on PI. But when Ike was playing it was more smash mouth on offense so I wonder how JPJ would have held up against the run.

 

I agree with all of this. Although for both, I'd probably argue that part of the reasons they didn't get picks is because it was better to throw to the other DBs. So I'm not sure Ike deserves his reputation as being stone-handed.

FWIW, I would also be arguing for us to sign Ike too. Even if signing him put him at the top end of the salary scale in the offseason when his contract was signed.

That's just how contracts work.