Steelers Are Extremely Deep In A Game Of Contract Chicken With NFC Foe

The Pittsburgh Steelers are expected to work on a contract extension for cornerback Joey Porter Jr. throughout training camp. This will be a long, tedious process, as paying a top-tier player at his position almost never goes over smoothly and without any sort of drama. There may be no football activities going on for a few more weeks, but that doesn't mean General Manager Omar Khan won't be stressed out during this timeframe. Obviously, there are other things he still has to deal with on top of giving out a ton of money to one player. 

Porter is not the only player that Khan has to deal with at this stage of the offseason. In fact, he has a much more pressing matter to tend to than Porter. Third-round rookie quarterback Drew Allar has not signed his contract yet. Of course, he is given a one-year, $885K obligatory "contract" to serve as a placeholder until he gets his actual deal signed, but that's clearly not enough for a man that has refused to sign any deal offered to him. 

Allar is not the only unsigned player remaining from the 2026 draft class. Carson Beck has refused to sign his deal with the Arizona Cardinals. Despite being completely different teams in different conferences, there appears to be a clear tie in the negotiations between these two. It's a classic game of contract chicken: wait to see what the other player signs for to know how to properly negotiate. 

In 2025, there was a whole saga where many second-round picks were holding out and demanding fully guaranteed contracts, with some of those players getting their wish. While not every player picked in that category received a no-strings-attached, the quarterback is still the most important position and could deserve more guarantees. Beck was the first pick in the third round, so he's fighting for that deal, with Allar just waiting and watching.

At the same time, Beck could be waiting on Allar to get his deal done. If the Steelers cave and give him what he wants, that would only strengthen the case of the rookie Arizona quarterback. Meanwhile, the Cardinals are hoping that Pittsburgh's new passer caves in and helps their case out instead. The exact same thing could be said for the Black and Gold, but with the names swapped. It's just one big game of chicken.

Steelers Will Likely Watch Arizona Give Out The Deal First

Team structure says that the Cardinals will be the ones that end up giving in. Starting quarterback Jacoby Brissett is reportedly holding-in while negotiating a deal himself. Dealing with one set of negotiations at the passer position is hard enough, but dealing with two is unprecedented. Because of that, Beck will likely sign first, and Pittsburgh will be able to go from there. 

If that situation does play out as expected, Beck should get a contract that is either entirely guaranteed or close to it. That would then mean Allar would be lobbying for the same amount of guarantees that his draft classmate received. NFL players usually operate under the mindset of "this player got x, y, and z, so I should get that or more." That includes the rookies too, as it's trickling into the third round.

While seeing third-round picks lobbying for as much guaranteed money as possible is not something that comes up very often, this will become more of the norm in future years. The dam has broken: more second-round picks have entirely guaranteed salaries, and that number will continue to grow. Eventually, Beck and Allar won't be the only ones in the third round hoping to get that kind of money. Someday, all rookie deals may have no strings attached to it.

What do you think about Allar, Beck, the Steelers, and the Cardinals all playing a giant game of chicken with these rookie negotiations? Let us know on X at @Steelers_ChrisB.

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