Steelers Now
Last season, Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Joey Porter Jr. was the most penalized cornerback in the league, but having a Super Bowl champion to learn from in Darius Slay could be beneficial.
Slay revealed in a recent interview with Mina Kimes of ESPN that he wants to not only help fix Porter’s issues with penalties, but also improve his game in the interceptions department. Porter has only two INTs through his first two seasons.
“They say he can’t catch, but we’re gonna fix that,” Slay told Kimes. “We’re gonna catch the rock this year.”
Slay has recorded 28 interceptions in his decorated career. The 34-year-old cornerback is a Super Bowl champion, eight-time Pro Bowler and has a first-team All-Pro selection (2017) under his belt. Slay hopes to give Porter and the Steelers young cornerbacks he same wisdom that he passed down to Philadelphia Eagles rookie cornerbacks Cooper DeJean and Quinyon Mitchell last season during their Super Bowl title run.
“I have a good resume with younger guys, trying to help build them,” Slay said. “That’s my job. I’m just here to help him, do everything I can to make sure he succeeds at what he does. And try to get him to be one of the best in the game.”
Porter will also have All-Pro cornerback Jalen Ramsey as a mentor in 2025. Both Slay and Ramsey are two very different cornerbacks from a stylistic standpoint, further proving that there’s more than one way to get the job done effectively. But there are elements from each of their games that Porter would be wise to try and emulate.
Porter revealed that the addition of Slay will have lasting effects on him past just the 2025 season.
“I told him I used to watch his tape growing up,” Porter said. “I know a lot of guys don’t like when I say that because they feel old, but he’s been in this league for a long time. He’s a great vet. I’ve had some great vets before him. I’m just happy to have him in the building and keep learning from him.”
Slay and Ramsey are not the first veteran that Porter has had the chance to learn from to start his NFL career. As a rookie, Porter got to work with likely future Hall of Famer Patrick Peterson. In 2024, he got to learn from Donte Jackson, who led Pittsburgh with five interceptions.
Getting the chance to learn from three highly-experienced vets in the first three years of a player’s career is not something that happens often. However, Porter thinks his relationship with them off the field could be even more valuable.
“I just get to make longtime friends,” Porter said. “I can call Pat Pete any day of the week. I can call Donte any day of the week. Now I’m gonna make that relationship with Slay where it can be the same thing. It’s not just on the field, but off-the-field connections.”
