The Pittsburgh Steelers will be without Joey Porter Jr. for a second straight week to open the 2026 NFL regular season. For a second consecutive game as well, defensive back Doneiko Slaughter will be an addition on the active roster for extra depth.
The Steelers announced Saturday they elevated Slaughter from the practice squad to the active roster. The team also promoted running back Travis Homer with the same kind of transaction.
Both will be active on game day in Week 2 when the Steelers face the New England Patriots. After the game, each player will revert back to the practice squad.
In Week 1, which was his NFL debut, Slaughter only played on special teams. He lined up for five special teams snaps and didn’t record a statistic.
In his first season with Pittsburgh, Homer will be making his Steelers debut Sunday. The eight-year veteran has previously played 85 games in the league with the Seattle Seahawks and Chicago Bears.
Last season, Homer played 163 special teams snaps and only six snaps on offense for the Bears.
The Steelers-Patriots matchup will kick off at 1 pm ET on Sunday.
Steelers Elevate DB Doneiko Slaughter to Active Roster
Slaughter obviously isn’t a direct replacement for Joey Porter Jr. The Steelers starting cornerback will be out again in Week 2 with a back injury/contract dispute. Without him, Asante Samuel Jr. will play a bigger role again opposite fellow cornerback Jamel Dean and nickel cornerback Jalen Ramsey.
But Slaughter is available for extra depth if needed. Depending on the inactive list Sunday morning, the Steelers will also have cornerbacks Brandin Echols and Daylen Everette available. So, it will likely take an injury, perhaps multiple, for Slaughter to play on defense.
Slaughter joined the NFL as an undrafted free agent for the Jacksonville Jaguars last season. He signed with Jacksonville after finishing his college career at Arkansas. He didn’t make the Jaguars at the 2025 roster deadline. Slaughter then joined the Steelers on a reserve/futures contract in January.
Again, the defensive back didn’t make the roster out of training camp. But the Steelers brought him back for their practice squad.
NFL teams are limited to just three practice squad elevations per play each season. The Steelers have used two already in the first two weeks on Slaughter.
Therefore, after one more elevation, the Steelers will be out of options with Slaughter unless they reset his practice squad elevations count with a separate stint on the team’s practice squad.
Steelers Also Elevate RB Travis Homer
For Week 1, Slaughter was the team’s only practice squad elevation. In the Patriots matchup, Homer will also be available.
Homer will provide running back depth, but similar to Slaughter, he will more likely play on special teams. Homer has filled a variety of roles on the unit and played at least 116 special teams snaps every season in his career.
He has returned kickoffs and worked on different coverage teams.
With Homer, the Steelers could have four running backs active versus New England — Homer, Jaylen Warren, Rico Dowdle and Eli Heidenreich. But Heidenreich could be candidate to be a healthy scratch with Homer up from the practice squad.
The Steelers will announce their inactive list at 11:30 am ET — an hour and a half before kickoff. Pittsburgh will be looking to improve to 2-0 while New England will try to bounce back from a 3-point Week 1 defeat.
In addition to the Slaughter and Homer elevations, the team also placed practice squad wide receiver Max Hurleman on the injured list Saturday. That will leave the Steelers a practice squad spot to fill next week.
Steelers Promote DB With Joey Porter Jr. Set to Miss Patriots Game