With negotiations on a new contract having started in spring 2026 and no resolution in sight, Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Joey Porter Jr. has reportedly been ‘holding in’ from team activities. The approach has not gone unnoticed, drawing criticism from a voice with deep ties to the cornerback position and, notably, a personal stake in how the situation unfolds.

Registering his opinion, two-time Super Bowl winner Asante Samuel Sr. has called out Joey Porter, suggesting that he is upsetting the wrong people the wrong way in the franchise.

“I don’t think [Porter is] handling the situation the best way, not going to practice,” Samuel said on the Say What Needs To Be Said podcast. “You’ve gotta know when to read the room and who you’re dealing with. These people seem like they really get offended over there in Pittsburgh. They really are in tune to what’s going on, their players and who their players are, and paying their players. They do things a certain way, they don’t just like to break bread.”

Porter has been present at camps so far, but he has not been participating in team drills. He is now on the Physically Unable to Perform list, where he was put on in late July. Head coach Mike McCarthy said on Monday that Porter and the Steelers were at an “impasse.”

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“Every one of us has a contract. The organization has beliefs and so forth. But yeah, that’s just kind of where we are.”

Porter is coming off a good show last season, when he recorded 53 total tackles, one interception, and 14 passes defended. He is a key piece of the Pittsburgh secondary and part of a crew that has already seen players like Nick Herbig and Darnell Washington being offered expensive extensions from the Steelers this year. During training camp, the cornerback said that he deserves to be paid like the league’s best.

“Definitely, I feel like I was an elite guy since I’ve been in this league,” he said during mandatory minicamp. “I’m happy that I’m getting the respect that I feel like I’m owed.”

The Seattle Seahawks’ Devin Witherspoon, also drafted in 2023, reset the cornerback market by signing a four-year, $132 million extension this August. The Steelers and the Porter dilemma must have hit a new roadblock after this development.

If Porter doesn’t return, Asante Samuel Jr. (Samuel Sr.’s son) gets a solid chance to start at cornerback, along with Jamel Dean. The younger Samuel has been a player worth looking out for throughout camp, and has taken starting reps in Porter’s absence. According to Locked on Steelers’ Christopher Carter, Samuel Jr. has played so well that the Steelers might be enticed to bring him up the order and give him a starting role.

Linebacker Elandon Roberts, however, believes Porter’s contract standoff is not a concern on the field.

“Joey’s a good player, Joey’s a good person on and off the field,” he said. “He’s not even a distraction. You know, we do day-to-day business and stuff like that and obviously we know when it’s time to ramp it up. Joey will be there.”

With only days left to go for the Steelers’ season opener against the Atlanta Falcons, we will have to wait and watch who between the team and Joey Porter Jr. blinks first.