The Joey Porter Jr. situation may be getting closer to a breaking point for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Porter has missed Pittsburgh’s first two games with a back/conditioning issue, and contract talks are shut down until after the season.
On Thursday, it was reported that he left practice after his back flared up.
Is a trade now imminent?
Casino.org’s Jason La Canfora believes Porter will be traded, perhaps well before the NFL trade deadline, and pointed to two NFC North teams as places Pittsburgh should start taking calls.
Steelers Get Strong Joey Porter Jr. Trade Prediction
The Steelers have maintained their policy of not negotiating contract extensions during the season. That leaves Porter and Pittsburgh with no obvious path to resolving their financial standoff.
La Canfora said he doesn’t expect the situation to last that long.
“We do not get the sense that there is an easy or imminent solution to Porter’s impasse. The Steelers have a team policy of not negotiating extensions in-season and nothing we hear leads us to believe there is an easy solution here and plenty of contending teams look short at least a corner,” La Canfora wrote.
“These aren’t your father’s Steelers, they aren’t wedding to old-school philosophies anymore and we get the strong suspicion that moving this talented player is reaching the ‘addition by subtraction’ stage of these types of standoffs.
“I believe he will be gone. And perhaps quite a bit sooner than the midseason deadline.”
Pittsburgh activated Porter from the physically unable to perform list on Aug. 30, but he hasn’t played through two weeks. The Steelers’ official injury report ruled him out against New England with conditioning/back issues after he also missed the opener against Atlanta.
La Canfora also believes Pittsburgh would be willing to listen now.
“This is becoming a distraction for the team, Pittsburgh would almost certainly be ready to engage if inquiring minds wanted to explore this and I don’t think tampering would be an issue (you want permission to speak to his agent to try to arrange a contract first, just ask!),” he wrote.
Lions, Bears Named Joey Porter Jr. Trade Fits
La Canfora wrote that getting back a Day 2 pick, potentially with additional upside, “feels about right” for Pittsburgh. He then listed two team out of the NFC North that could be a good fit for the cornerback.
“Seems to me, and some personnel execs I spoke to about this situation, that he would be a great fit in the NFC North,” La Canfora wrote. “Detroit’s defense is in failure mode and dealing with serious injuries on the back end. Chicago’s defense is so suspect it threatens to undermine what might be the most dynamic offense in franchise history.
“That would be a good place to start. There’s a deal waiting to be made.”
Detroit has already dealt with secondary injuries, including cornerback D.J. Reed appearing on the Week 2 injury report with a foot issue. Chicago’s defense rebounded by allowing nine points and 246 net yards against Minnesota after surrendering 37 points to Carolina in Week 1.
Any acquiring team would still have to satisfy Pittsburgh’s trade price and Porter’s contract expectations. That combination continues to complicate a potential deal.
Steelers’ Joey Porter Jr. Gets Trade Timeline, Strong Lions-Bears Message