The Detroit Lions may be doing more than simply monitoring the Joey Porter Jr. situation.
According to a new report from Jeff Risdon, Detroit has contacted the Pittsburgh Steelers about the veteran cornerback’s availability, potentially turning weeks of speculation into something more tangible.
Risdon said he has been told from the Pittsburgh side that conversations between the teams have taken place.
“I can tell you that I know that the Lions have approached the Steelers,” Risdon said on Monday. “I don’t know how receptive the Steelers were. I don’t know what the Lions offered, if anything. I know that they have talked. I got that from a reliable source from the Pittsburgh side. Will anything happen? I don’t know.”
That does not mean a trade is imminent. It does mean the Porter-to-Detroit idea may have moved beyond the purely hypothetical stage.
Detroit’s Interest Would Make Plenty of Sense
Cornerback was already one of Detroit’s biggest questions before the season began.
The Lions released former first-round pick Terrion Arnold during the offseason, a decision Brad Holmes later explained when he addressed why Detroit ultimately moved on from Arnold. Detroit entered Week 1 with D.J. Reed and Rock Ya-Sin leading the outside cornerback group.
Then New Orleans provided a fairly convincing reminder that the position remains worth watching.
Saints rookie Tyler Shough threw for 410 yards and three touchdowns in Detroit’s 31-30 overtime victory. Chris Olave accounted for 182 of those yards, and Ya-Sin later received Detroit’s lowest defensive PFF grade at 46.1.
The Lions survived.
That does not mean Brad Holmes has to be comfortable with what he saw.
Porter would represent a dramatically different level of investment. Detroit had already been connected to him through hypothetical trade proposals before the season, including one that had the Lions surrendering a 2027 first-round pick. At the time, we emphasized that the Porter proposal was speculation rather than evidence of actual negotiations.
That distinction now matters.
Joey Porter Jr.’s Steelers Situation Is Complicated
Pittsburgh has its own decision to make.
Porter is entering the final year of his rookie contract and has been unable to reach an extension with the Steelers. He also missed Pittsburgh’s season opener while dealing with a back injury.
More importantly, the possibility of a trade is no longer coming entirely from outside speculation. Reuters reported that Pittsburgh is open to trade offers, while Porter has considered his options amid the contract stalemate.
The financial component would be substantial.
The cornerback market has exploded, with several top players now earning more than $30 million annually. Reports throughout the offseason have placed Porter’s potential extension in that neighborhood, although there has been no publicly confirmed demand from Porter or his representatives for a specific $30 million figure.
That means Detroit would likely be dealing with two separate costs.
First, whatever draft compensation Pittsburgh requires.
Then the contract Porter would expect after arriving.
That is not a minor transaction.
Lions Would Be Making an All-In Move
Porter would immediately change Detroit’s secondary.
The 26-year-old has appeared in 47 regular-season games since Pittsburgh selected him with the 32nd overall pick in 2023. His combination of size, press coverage ability and experience against No. 1 receivers would give Kelvin Sheppard another legitimate outside corner opposite Reed.
That becomes even more attractive while Detroit waits for Brian Branch and Kerby Joseph to return from Reserve/PUP. Joseph’s absence was already significant enough that we examined what losing him for the first four games meant for Detroit’s secondary before the season began.
Adding Porter would not be a depth move.
It would be Brad Holmes acknowledging that Detroit is firmly inside a championship window and deciding that a premium corner is worth both draft capital and a major financial commitment.
The Lions have the roster to justify thinking that way.
Whether they have the appetite for the price is another question.
Contact Does Not Mean a Deal Is Close
That is the part worth emphasizing.
There is a meaningful difference between calling Pittsburgh and agreeing on what Porter is worth.
Detroit should call.
Every contender with a need at cornerback should.
The Steelers must decide whether they would rather keep Porter for a championship run, continue attempting to solve the contract issue or convert him into future draft capital. Detroit must decide how much it is willing to surrender for a player it would then need to pay like one of the NFL’s better corners.
Those are complicated negotiations.
But after weeks of imagining Porter in Honolulu Blue, this is the first report suggesting Holmes may have actually picked up the phone.
That makes the situation considerably more interesting.
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