With a contract standoff looming and a back injury surfacing, the Pittsburgh Steelers elevated Doneiko Slaughter, signaling they are ready to move forward with or without their star cornerback.
On Friday's final injury report, the Pittsburgh Steelers listed Joey Porter Jr. as questionable to play the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday.
Porter is dealing with a back issue that caused him to be a limited participant in practice this week. There has been chatter that the 2023 second-round pick potentially not playing due to the status of his contract negotiations.
The Steelers have a longstanding policy of ending negotiations when the regular season starts, and Pittsburgh and Porter don't seem close to agreeing to a new deal before kickoff on Sunday.
On Saturday, the Steelers appeared to call Porter's bluff if he decides not to play because of his contract.
Per Pittsburgh, the team elevated defensive back Doneiko Slaughter to the active roster/inactive roster from the practice squad before Sunday's game. He will revert to the practice squad after the game.
Slaughter signed with the Steelers on a reserve/future contract after the 2025 season. He spent his rookie season with the Jacksonville Jaguars as an undrafted rookie free agent.
Earlier in the week, Steelers head coach Mike McCarthy suggested everyone, including Porter, was healthy enough to play the Falcons on Sunday. He appeared to backtrack on those comments on Thursday, saying the cornerback was ramping up to return.
In the meantime, Porter is hoping a deal can get done.
"I mean, at this point we got, what, 42 [hours]?" Porter said, via ESPN. "I don't know how many we got until game day, but clock's ticking, so it is what it is. At this point, we're going to be prepared. Regardless of the situation, we're going to want to play ball.
"I'm trying to be optimistic about anything and everything and all possible outcomes. ... I hope it could get done, hopefully before then, but if it happens, it happens."
The Steelers would be much better against the Falcons with a healthy Porter. Atlanta has troubles of its own at the quarterback position, set to start backup quarterback Cooper Rush, who is dealing with back spasms.
Pittsburgh could better take advantage of the Falcons by having its best players in the secondary to try and take advantage of a poor quarterback situation. Whether Porter or Slaughter is a part of that secondary on Sunday remains to be seen.
