The Pittsburgh Steelers were unable to meet the contract demands for cornerback Joey Porter Jr. As a result, the organization is now between a rock and a hard place.
If the team comes down too hard on Porter, the Steelers will ruin their relationship with the cornerback and could push themselves into a situation where they have to make a trade. But there are risks to being too lenient with the unhappy cornerback too.
NFL insider Aditi Kinkhabwala argued during a radio appearance Thursday the Steelers might be leaning toward the latter situation.
“At this point, is this a little spineless?” Kinkhabwala asked on 93.7 The Fan, via Steelers Depot’s Matthew Marczi. “Medically clear him and fin him. If it’s not the back anymore, then wasn’t it incumbent upon him to be conditioned?”
Kinkhabwala is referring to the cornerback no longer being on the team’s injury report because of his back injury. Although Porter seems over that issue, he was still limited in Wednesday’s practice.
Officially, the Steelers listed Porter as limited because “NIR/Conditioning.”
NIR stands for not-injury related.
Steelers’ Joey Porter Jr. No Longer Limited Due to Back Injury?
Steelers Nation has been waiting for a resolution in the Porter contract saga for weeks. One might be coming soon.
The team has made clear it isn’t negotiating with Porter during the season. So, the resolution isn’t going to be a new deal.
But if the Steelers deem Porter healthy enough to play, the public will finally become aware about whether the back injury or contract is more the reason why the cornerback hasn’t practiced much since training camp started. Porter also didn’t play in Week 1 versus the Atlanta Falcons.
Some insiders called Porter a healthy scratch for the season opener. Others, though, referred to Porter as out because of his back injury.
Porter was on the injury report and questionable entering Week 1 because of his back. But it doesn’t sound like the back injury will be a factor this week.
Of course, that’s assuming Porter remains healthy until Sunday. Steelers insider Mark Kaboly reported Porter left Thursday’s practice session with the team’s head trainer and didn’t return. No other details were available as of 1 pm ET.
Aditi Kinkhabwala Criticizes Steelers Approach With CB Joey Porter Jr.
There’s little doubt Pittsburgh’s situation with Porter has grown into a major mess. It was completely avoidable too had the Steelers just signed Porter to an extension over the summer, as they did with numerous other players who were entering the final year of their rookie deals.
The Steelers signed Nick Herbig, Darnell Washington and Keeanu Benton before getting a deal done with Porter.
Having said that, we can’t completely blame the Steelers for the failure to reach a Porter extension. Not without the full details of the negotiations, which the public will never be privy too.
It takes two sides to sign a contract, and Porter’s actual demands cannot be confirmed.
Similarly, it’s difficult to be too critical of the Steelers for not taking a more stern approach in Porter not playing. That’s because there’s no way to 100% know if he’s healthy.
“The dilemma in all this is that we can’t say Joey Porter is healthy,” wrote Marczi. “Even if he is — and it seems most believe that is the case — there is nothing you can do to prove otherwise.”
The Steelers took a step toward saying Porter is healthy. There was no injury attached to his name on the injury report Wednesday. That puts the ball in Porter’s court to play or not.
Fining him probably wouldn’t solve anything and would only anger the cornerback further.
In a lot of ways, the Steelers deserve credit and blame for how they have handled the Porter situation. They are doing the best they can to handle a terrible situation, but it’s one they created almost entirely on their own.
Steelers Suggested as ‘Spineless’ in Joey Porter Jr. Drama