Joey Porter Jr contract negotiations

I get it.

I would prefer that he was something like the 3-5th highest paid CB when he signs (especially if Gonzales signed first).

But it's also important to remember that structure matters more than AAV. If he had the highest AAV, but the deal was a year longer and it was structured like the Herbig or Benton deals (it won't be that team friendly), that would be very good for the team.

I agree with all of your complaints about the league.

I do think they'll hit a wall re: revenue. But not for a generation or two when people in the 40-50ish age group start dying out. Because I don't think younger generations care about sports as much as we do. Hopefully this is a long way off.

 

If he can hold in long enough for Gonzales to sign, he'll definitely make more money.

He's already made a lot of money by waiting this long. He would have been probably $28mm - $30mm if he signed early in the offseason based on old contracts. That would have been the equivalent of the sweet deal we got Minkah on. By waiting this long, I bet his market value has gone up by at least $2mm. Probably more than that after the Witherspoon deal.

Sounds like the Gonzales deal is going to be very big. The Pats already announced they want to give him a huge deal. But he still hasn't signed. Because it's going to be even bigger than they want. Will the AAV be $35mm-$36mm? If it is, it's a lot easier for Porter's team to argue for > $33MM after that signing than it is for them to make that argument today.

Makes sense for Porter to try to let the tide rise before he signs. I agree it's bad for the team. And I would have preferred for him to be playing this whole time. But I get why guys don't want to get hurt right before signing monster deals. TJ didn't play until his deal was signed either. And IIRC, the data tells us that CBs get hurt more frequently than edge rushers. Gonzalez was also "hurt" for all their preseason games. We'll see what he does now.

 

I am not sure if he is at 3-5th yet. He has the potential to be and he is still young but to say he is over - González, Witherspoon, Curtain, McDuffie, Guardner, Ward, Mitchell and Stingley is a stretch at the moment. The rest of the league doesn’t view him like that. He didn’t even make nfl top 100 this year. I can appreciate his confidence but he is either getting bad advice from his agent or he is delusional.

 

This guy says it better than I could. https://steelersdepot.com/2026/08/m...nts-to-reset-the-cornerback-market-trade-him/

 

So you chastise the team over a couple million dollars but not Porter. He is a great cb but again he has his flaws such as run defense, lack of turnovers, penalities and not great on zone coverage. Here is another argument: https://steelersdepot.com/2026/08/m...nts-to-reset-the-cornerback-market-trade-him/

 

To me the ultimate com-Rosie’s for both the team and Porter is to agree on a heavily sentivized deal. If he wants paid like the best then he has to perform like the best year in and year out. I wouldn’t be crazy on the gauruntee money either if I’m the team since cb’s get injured more than other players as you say.