Steelers' contract issue with Joey Porter Jr. is becoming more clear - Steelers Wire

Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Joey Porter Jr. has dealt with a lot of trade rumors and highest-paid cornerback speculation over the past few months, but the real issue in contract talks is becoming more clear by the day.

According to PennLive's Nick Farabaugh, as well as Porter's own admission that he doesn't care about becoming the highest-paid corner, the contract negotiations are all about guaranteed money.

"Repeat after me -- It's not the AAV, it's the guarantees! (and always has been)," Farabaugh wrote via X.

So far this year, we've seen cornerbacks like Christian Gonzalez, Devon Witherspoon, and Trent McDuffie completely reset the cornerback market with deals surpassing $30 million per year. Their guaranteed money has been around 75% to 80% of their total contract value.

Previously, we at Steelers Wire predicted that Porter could sign a four-year, $128 million extension that pays him an average of $32 million per season with $101 million in guaranteed money. But it's evident the holdup is more related to the latter.

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