The Pittsburgh Steelers kicked off their 2026 season on Sunday with a 20-13 win over the Falcons, and they did it without one of their best defensive players: star cornerback Joey Porter Jr. Porter sat out Week 1 with a back injury and reportedly still needs more time to ramp up. He's also in the middle of a tense contract standoff with the Steelers' front office as he seeks an extension, and Pittsburgh is now reportedly listening to trade offers for Porter as the two sides remain far apart on a new deal.
On Tuesday, NFL insider Ian Rapoport gave the latest on the situation and floated two Super Bowl contenders as potential trade partners: the Kansas City Chiefs and Detroit Lions. "There are teams that are corner-needy teams. He is a very good player with a contract situation that's a mess.
They're obviously at an impasse. It's been not in a great place for a while," Rapoport said. "Pittsburgh has been open to trading him.
The interest based on their price has not been there yet, but it's definitely one to keep tracking, who he ends up playing for … The Chiefs, we'll see, because if [Mansoor] Delane is hurt, Brett Veach will make a trade. He'll be risky; he will make a trade. The Lions lost Terrion Arnold.
That would be another one I'd keep an eye on." More news: Sean Payton Assigns Blame After Broncos’ Blowout Loss to Chiefs Porter was the Steelers' second-round pick (No. 32 overall) in 2023 and enters the final year of his rookie deal without an extension. He's established himself as one of the league's top shutdown corners, typically the kind of player a team wants to lock down long-term. But it's starting to look more and more like a trade could be in the cards, especially if a contender can package together a strong enough deal.
Detroit has dealt with several injuries in its secondary over the past year, with Kerby Joseph and Brian Branch still recovering from their respective injuries. Terrion Arnold was released by the Lions after a serious legal situation in the offseason, and the players remaining let Tyler Shough throw for 410 yards on Sunday. Detroit trading for Porter would make perfect sense.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
