Steelers Now
One NFL analyst believes the Pittsburgh Steelers need to make one more move before the start of the 2026 season.
The Pittsburgh Steelers have had themselves quite a very active offseason once again under general manager Omar Khan. However, NFL analyst Aaron Schatz of ESPN believes the team needs to make one last move.
Schatz thinks the Steelers must find a way to lock up cornerback Joey Porter Jr. before the start of the 2026 season.
“Porter is a very talented cornerback who finished 10th in the league in my coverage DVOA metric last season. The problem is that Porter will want top-five cornerback money, and there isn’t necessarily evidence that he belongs in that stratosphere,” Schatz wrote. “Perhaps the Steelers can get him to agree to something that might be higher than they want to go but lower than what players such as Trent McDuffie and Sauce Gardner recently got paid.”
Porter, 25, is certainly deserving of a big-time contract extension as he has quickly established himself as one of the best cornerbacks in the league during his three seasons with the Steelers, recording 165 tackles, one sack, 31 passes defensed and three interceptions.
He has also allowed just one touchdown pass in his NFL career, and that was in 2023 as a rookie.
However, he also seems to be under the impression that he can become one of the highest paid players at his position, whether it be with the Steelers or not.
“Definitely, I feel like I was an elite guy since I’ve been in this League, and I’m happy that I’m getting the respect that I feel like I’m owed,” Porter said earlier this offseason.
Only time will tell if the Steelers agree with that sentiment, but he has a strong case that they should give him the deal he’s searching for.
The biggest knock against Porter throughout the start of his NFL career has been his penalties. But he even cut those nearly in half in 2025, going from 17 in 2024 to just nine a season ago.
It’s unlikely that Porter has done enough to reset the cornerback market, but if he does ultimately become among the top earners at the position, that puts him on pace to receive a deal that pays him somewhere between $25 million and $30 million per year.
Los Angeles Rams cornerback Trent McDuffie currently leads the pack, earning $31 million per year on his four-year, $124 million contract.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now: Analyst Names Last Offseason Move Steelers Must Make
