The 1 Move Steelers Need to Make Before 2026 Season Kicks Off

In a new column, ESPN named the one move each NFL team needs to make before the 2026 season kicks off.

For the Pittsburgh Steelers, it’s signing star corner Joey Porter Jr. to a new contract. However, ESPN cautioned the Steelers not to pay Porter like one of the top five defensive backs in football.

“Porter was taken at the top of the second round in the 2023 draft, so he’s coming to the end of his rookie deal. There’s no fifth-year option at play here, so the Steelers need to re-sign him now to keep him around,” the Worldwide Leader said.

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“Porter is a very talented cornerback who finished 10th in the league in my coverage DVOA metric last season. The problem is that Porter will want top-five cornerback money, and there isn’t necessarily evidence that he belongs in that stratosphere,” it added.

ESPN suggested the Steelers could pay Porter more than the team wants, but still keeping it under the threshold of top players like Trent McDuffie and Sauce Gardner, who recently got paid lucrative new deals. McDuffie recently signed a four-year, $124 million deal with the Los Angeles Rams, while Gardner signed a four-year, $120 million deal after being traded to the Indianapolis Colts.

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This story was originally published June 18, 2026 at 1:53 PM.