Steelers' Joey Porter Jr. drama takes ugly turn with rumored fines

The situation between Joey Porter Jr. and the Pittsburgh Steelers is only getting uglier, as one insider believes the team could start fining the young cornerback if he doesn't play for the team soon.

According to 93.7 The Fan's Andrew Fillipponi, NFL insider Ari Meirov reported that the Steelers may begin to fine Porter if the young cornerback continues holding out due to "injury," which many have speculated has less to do with health and more to do with contract frustration.

"Viral NFL insider Ari Meirov says on [93.7 The Fan] that there's a chance the Steelers start fining Joey Porter Jr if he continues to sit out with his 'back injury'," Fillipponi wrote via X. "That threat could force Joey Porter Jr.'s hand. And get him back on the playing field."

The Steelers already took the first step to making this concerning report a reality by activating Porter off the physically unable to perform list several weeks ago, which effectively forced him to return to practice. If there's more to the "injury" situation than meets the eye, Porter could lose roughly $218,000 in salary for every regular-season game he missed, in addition to risking nearly $250,000 in signing-bonus forfeiture.

Here's to hoping that we'll never reach that point, as Porter received an encouraging update from Steelers head coach Mike McCarthy, indicating that he expects the young cornerback to practice more this week and be available on game day when the ramp-up period is over.

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