The Steelers report to training camp at St. Vincent College in Latrobe, Pennsylvania in just over two weeks but there’s is a possibility of a contract holdout Joey Porter Jr.
Mike Florio of ProFootball went on 93.7 The Fan’s PM Team Wednesday afternoon and discussed the rookie contract dispute with former Penn State CB Porter.
Two weeks out from camp, the Steelers have not agreed to terms with Joey Porter Jr.
Mike Florio from @ProFootballTalk told @ThePoniExpress & @ChrisMuellerPGH why.
📻: https://t.co/m3CYM6x1oK pic.twitter.com/ZkcqKU96bq
— 93.7 The Fan (@937theFan) July 12, 2023
Florio spoke to Andrew Filliponi and Chris Mueller about this dispute, and said it isn’t about Porter but about a power struggle between the NFL owners and the NFL players union. Florio states that although the Steelers owners, the Rooneys, are trying to make the best of the situation with Porter, they want to hold the line with the players union, and not set a precedent for future situations like where Porter was drafted.
“It has nothing to do with (Porter), it’s a broader power play between the league and the union,” Florio said.
“This is about the Rooneys holding the line in the push-pull between the league and the players.”
Porter was the No. 32 overall pick in April’s draft, which usually is first-round draft status. But the Miami Dolphins forfeited their first-round draft pick after they were found guilty of tampering with former New Orleans Saints and current Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton and former Tampa Bay Buccaneers and now retired quarterback Tom Brady.
After the NFL changed the rookie-wage scale in 2011, first-round draft picks got their four-year rookie contract fully guaranteed. But because Joey Porter Jr. was a second-round draft pick in a year that he would normally have been a first-rounder, there is a dispute with the guaranteed money in the final year of his contract.
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