The Pittsburgh Steelers are in their worst contract dispute with a player since Le’Veon Bell eight years ago. So, it’s only fitting for Bell to weigh in on the Joey Porter Jr. drama.
Bell did just that on X Friday night.
“Man, I hope the Steelers just pay JPJ,” wrote Bell. “At some point, things gotta change …”
Porter will miss his second game of the season Sunday versus the New England Patriots. The cornerback missed Week 1 because of a back injury, and he left Thursday’s practice having aggravated his back.
A lot of pundits, though, don’t see the injury as genuine — at least not to the point where Porter should be missing games. It’s possible the cornerback staged his exit from practice as part of a months long negotiating ploy to place pressure on the Steelers to better their contract offer.
Revisiting Le’Veon Bell’s 2017 Contract Holdout
There are some obvious differences between the Bell and Porter contract disputes. But there is one clear similarity as well.
Both players took issue with the Steelers only guaranteeing money for the first season. This hasn’t been 100% confirmed as the case with the Steelers offer with Porter, but insiders have reported guaranteed money is a sticking point for the cornerback in negotiations.
In Bell’s situation, the Steelers placed the franchise tag on him for a second consecutive year in 2018. The offer they reportedly made was five years, $70 million with rolling guarantees in the first two seasons.
But for the first year, Bell had more guaranteed money in the franchise tag than the Steelers contract offer.
Bell held out and didn’t play at all in 2018. Then during 2019 NFL free agency, he signed a 4-year, $52.5 million deal with the New York Jets. The contract included $35 million guaranteed.
The Jets offer likely included more guaranteed money up front. But the Steelers offer had more total money and would have resulted in more guaranteed money as long as Bell remained on the roster.
Most pundits would say Bell lost the contract standoff with the Steelers. In a lot of cases, he’s referenced as an example what not to do when unhappy about a contract dispute.
Bell was a three-time All-Pro in five seasons with the Steelers. After sitting out 2018, he was never the same. Bell didn’t eclipse the 800-yard rushing mark in 2019 and then significantly declined from there. He was out of football by 2022.
But while the Steelers “won” the negotiations, they did disappointingly miss the playoffs during Bell’s contract holdout season. And in some ways, they haven’t been the same since either.
The Steelers haven’t won a playoff game since Bell’s holdout. They haven’t had an elite offense since 2018 either, but that’s probably more tied to Ben Roethlisberger’s elbow injury and Antonio Brown’s exit.
What’s Next for Steelers, Joey Porter Jr.?
What was a mess is now arguably a circus. Steelers insiders such as Tim Benz have theorized that the NFLPA could get involved in the situation because of Porter’s potential phantom back injury.
Multiple Steelers insiders and writers have criticized both the cornerback and team for making a mockery of the injury report.
Officially, Porter is out for Week 2. The Steelers have him listed as NIR/Conditioning/Back, which is hypocritical listing, as “NIR” stands for “not-injury related.”
National pundits and writers for other teams have hyped Porter as a trade candidate. The Steelers could certainly trade Porter, but that’s not guaranteed. It’s possible the team continues to play hard ball, and this situation could linger into the spring, when the Steelers could do what they did with Bell eight years ago — use the franchise tag.
That doesn’t mean Porter will play again for the Steelers. The team could keep Porter until the spring, use the franchise tag and then trade him. The trade compensation for the cornerback might be better in March than during the 2026 regular season.
Frankly, nobody really knows the path forward. It’s pretty clear, though, Porter is not going to get a better contract offer during the season. It’s a longstanding Steelers policy to not negotiate contracts during the season.
Bell, though, seems optimistic that maybe the team will finally change their ways to get a better result in this contract dispute.
Le’Veon Bell Makes Feelings Clear on Steelers-Joey Porter Jr. Contract Drama