Welcome To NFL Moment For Steelers' Joey Porter Jr Likely Has George Pickens Smiling From Ear To Ear

The Pittsburgh Steelers had a very successful 2023 NFL Draft class. Perhaps the best selection of the bunch was cornerback Joey Porter Jr. The defender has turned into one of the most dominant at the position in the league, which should lead to him getting a big payday at some point prior to the 2026 campaign. Thanks to a trade with the Chicago Bears for Chase Claypool, the Steelers held the first pick in the second round. After falling out of round one, the Penn State alumnus heard his name called by the same organization that his father won a Super Bowl with.

It took a little bit of adjusting for Porter once he got to the NFL level. He was known to be a little handsy coming out of college and had his fair share of penalties, particularly during his first two years. He cut down on those in 2025, having the least amount of his career. Now, he could get top-end market money because of how successful he has been. It's a contract year for the corner, and he might just put pen to paper prior to training camp commencing.

One of the ways that defenders find themselves getting better is in practice. Cornerbacks that have the opportunities to go up against dominant wide receivers will often develop much quicker. Porter had the chance to do that while playing opposite of George Pickens throughout the 2023 and 2024 training camps. 

Porter recently joined Not Just Football with Cam Heyward during a draft special and the full podcast was posted to YouTube on Wednesday morning. When asked about his welcome to the NFL moment, he spoke about a viral moment with Pickens.

"I never really had one in-game. I mean I got blindsided. I got double-teamed by some linemen or whatever like that," Porter said. "My welcome was probably in training camp with GP with that catch... That catch was crazy. I'll give him that. That was crazy. That was probably the only thing."

The play was well-documented across the social media landscape. Pickens leaped essentially around Porter, and ended up making an incredible one-handed grab that was rather incredible.

It doesn't take a football nerd to watch the clip and understand just how insane the play was that Pickens made. It was talked about for several weeks as the second-year wideout at the time was looking to make his mark.

Porter was questioned on what it was like to go up against Pickens every day. While the pass-catcher was traded to the Dallas Cowboys in May of 2025, the defender joked about how he never got the good end of the social media stick when the two were teammates.

"It was good. Iron sharpens iron," Porter noted. "They never posted my clips though. That was the only thing I'd be mad about and I used to complain to [my dad], like, 'They never post my clips. I'll be doing my thing, but they always just post the offense.'"

Typically, welcome to the NFL moments come against someone wearing a different colored jersey. For Porter, it just so happened to be his own teammate that basically embarrassed him at a practice open to the public. As he mentioned, however, iron sharpens iron and both individuals are due for some pretty lucrative contract extensions in the near future.

Steelers Remain Very Thankful To The Chicago Bears

Pittsburgh would not have been in range to snag Porter in the backend of the second round during the 2023 NFL Draft. The smart move to deal Claypool to the NFC is what allowed the Steelers to finally find a long-term corner. The contract negotiations are bound to be tough because of how the market has shaped up to be, but any welcome to the NFL moments are now in the past after Porter has proven himself time and time again.

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