Steelers and Joey Porter Jr. running out of time to get a deal done + 53-man roster reaction

Joey Porter Jr., following practice, spoke for the first time since OTAs about this contract negotiation situation.

And we also want to say the caveat that as we're recording this right now, there is no contract extension.

So we might hit end and it might happen, but...

As of this moment, as we're recording this, the contract is not yet.

There's been no

extension.

Are you that optimistic that something's going to get signed that we're going to have to rerecord?

No, I'm hoping not.

It can be signed Friday.

But you think something will get done?

I'm more apprehensive than I've been about the situation lately.

And I think next week will tell us a lot.

I think we talked about this a little bit last week in terms of how things have played out previously.

I mean, going back when TJ Watt signed his extension, that was the Thursday or Friday leading into the regular season.

So that really took up until kind of, you know, the 11th hour.

If...

If a deal gets done, I think it will happen in the 11th hour.

But I think next week is going to be a very big week to see kind of how this all shakes out.

But I think we know a little bit now that we've seen Omar Khan go through a lot of these negotiations or at least a number of them.

in his time as this team's general manager, the game of chicken he likes to play, I guess if you want to call it that for lack of a better term.

But I think he tries, and the front office tries their best to force the players' hands, and the players try to hold out as long as they can until it makes a deal.

I don't think, though, I'm trying to think, there hasn't been a negotiation in my now six years covering this team, and especially since Omar Khan has been the general manager of this team, I can't remember one that didn't work out.

that didn't shake out until the start of the season.

I guess that's true, but I have to wonder how much Cam Hayward gave, you know, like basically gave things to get the deal done because his contract a couple of years ago, I guess one year ago, it took until the 11th hour, literally where it was, uh, the night before the evening, before the opener for it to finally get done in the fact that they then went back again this year and redid that contract.

I think maybe tells you that Kim didn't get everything he was looking for in that initial deal, but you know, the most famous one that didn't get done with Le'Veon Bell.