Steelers just got GREAT news... | Pittsburgh Steelers News

The Pittsburgh Steelers got great news as head coach Mike McCarthy talked about the current status of quarterback Joey Porter Jr. That current status gives Steelers fans great optimism as they head into week one of the 2026 regular season. How is everyone doing today? I hope you guys are having a great Tuesday. Before we hop into all these new updates regarding quarterback Joey Porter Jr., I want to remind all of you guys to subscribe to the channel to keep up to date with all things Steelers Digest. It's going to be an awesome season. Me and Nick have loved being able to share these videos with you and talk about the Pittsburgh Steelers and it's only going to get better as we inch towards the regular season. So you want to make sure you're subscribed down below and also click that bell to keep up to date on all things Pittsburgh Steelers. Let's hop into this quote from Mike McCarthy that gives Steelers fans a lot of hope. Mike McCarthy said today quarterback Joey Porter Jr. will definitely using that word definitely return to practice this week. He will use the next three days this ramp up period and that's again this is a term that both McCarthy and Joey Porter Jr. used this ramp up period to see if he is ready. That tweet is from Gary Dulac. And then like I mentioned, Joey Porter Jr. also was talking about his current status. He said that he's feeling pretty good. He's getting back to where he wants to be. He's I'm not saying that it's at 100%. We're still working on things. We're still ramping some stuff up. So we've just got to keep stacking them day by day and hopefully next week it is what it is. But this is just fantastic news for all Steelers fans regarding Joey Porter Jr. This is a guy that I don't have to tell you guys. You guys probably already have been keeping up with all the contract negotiation stuff that's been going on between the Steelers and Joey Porter Jr. With those negotiations, it was kind of up in the air when we were going to see Joey Porter Jr. next practice. He was elevated from the Pup Blast last week. That was a really good sign. But to get such concrete words as definitely from Mike McCarthy that he's going to return, we're going to see Joey Porter Jr. sooner rather than later on the field. And just all Pittsburgh Steelers fans can rejoice in that fact because a lot of us can remember certain situations regarding Le'Veon Bell where he was negotiating a contract, the Steelers didn't sign him, and then we got to the regular season and the Steelers don't sign anyone in the regular season and he just held out that entire period. Not saying Joey Porter Jr. was ever going to do that, but I'd be lying if at least that didn't go through my head when this negotiation period started. So just to know that he's coming back to practice even with all the negotiation stuff still up in the air is just fantastic, fantastic news. And it's even, it's really big because you look at the current cornerback room and you also just look at that defensive back room as a whole. And without Joey Porter Jr., I don't know how I really feel about it. Obviously you bring in veteran Jamel Dean from Tampa Bay. You like what you're feeling about him. You still have Jalen Ramsey. He's Jalen Ramsey. He's, you know, a sure thing when he's healthy. But other than that, you have Brandon Echols who's still, you know, he's a veteran, but in the terms of Pittsburgh Steelers, he's still kind of young. He hasn't really been around the team a ton of time, and he really hasn't hit the field a lot. So that on top of, you know, rookie quarterback Dylan Everett, and then I'll even go down to some of the safeties. Deshaun Elliott, he's currently on IR. That is a big worry. And then you have two other kind of younger safeties in Rayshawn Jenkins, first year with the team. And then, you know, rookie Robert Spears Jennings. All that together without Joey Porter Jr., that defensive backroom is struggling. It does not look great, but you throw in a guy like Joey Porter Jr. in this ramp up period that they've talked about. Maybe it's not week one. Maybe it's not even week two, but just to get him back early on in the year, know that he's going to be a hundred percent. I know, you know, he quoted that he's not currently a hundred percent right now, but trying to stack those days on top of each other, ramping up to a period where he is a hundred percent, even if that is week three, that's awesome. Much better than, you know, a possible holdout or maybe he waits until, you know, sooner to the start of the regular season or the regular season to start this process. So, you know, sooner is better than later in this scenario. So Pittsburgh Steelers fans, we can expect Joey Porter Jr. to return pretty much any time now, and that is just awesome to hear. And that's really going to help, you know, the Steelers' chances as they move through the regular season and try to win that elusive seventh Super Bowl. Speaking of that, I want to talk about our friends at Kelshi, who's today's sponsor. On Kelshi, you're directly trading against other users, not the house, like some other traditional sports books that you might think of. You're buying yes or no contracts on the outcome of events across sports, politics, or even the weather. And for example, you can even trade on the Super Bowl champion as I pull it up right here. As you see, currently the LA Rams have a 15% chance to win the Super Bowl on Kelshi. The Buffalo Bills have an 8% chance. Seattle Seahawks have an 8% chance. And if you're curious, currently the Pittsburgh Steelers have a 2%, yes, 2% chance on Kelshi to win the Super Bowl. If you drop $25 on that, you can win $1,100. I mention $25 specifically because we actually, if you're interested in trying out Kelshi, use the link in our description and in the pinned comment to use promo code digestNFL to get $25 added to your account instantly. All right, let's keep moving on here. We have a quote from Mike McCarthy regarding Landon Roberts. This was absolutely the biggest surprise out of anyone that got let go. I know a but I was so certain that Landon Roberts, when the Steelers brought him back, was going to stay on the roster. And he just hasn't. He got cut. And this is the quote that Mike McCarthy had regarding him. Number one, he's an outstanding player, that being Roberts. He came here late. He's definitely up to his reputation. You know, I enjoyed him while he was here. I wish him the best of luck. But there's a lot of things going into those final decisions. You know, special teams is usually a part of that. Once you get passed through the first 11 or 12 going on the field, offense and defense. This is a very interesting quote that he brought up special teams. It's hard to say internally, you know, where they were currently, you know, where they were standing on Roberts. You know, I haven't really got a lot of word that word about that from reporters, but again, just very surprised that he was cut. I thought he could have worked perfectly until that linebacking core as more of that run stopper that you don't really get with the Patrick Queen or Peyton Wilson. So this quote makes me believe there, maybe there was some stuff behind the scenes that we didn't see. Maybe he wasn't, you know, jumping to this new Patrick Graham defense as quickly as some of the other guys. And that led to him being cut. But again, just very surprising on that matter. But all right. As we end the show, I got some kind of house cleaning, house cleaning things as the Steelers add three additional practice squad players, that being quarterback Carlin Vigors, edge player Brandon Swinson, and wide receiver Brandon Johnson. Out of those three, the one that really, you know, sticks out to me is that of Brayden Swinson. You might, if you really are into the NFL draft, you might, you know, know the name Brayden Swinson because he's 6'3", 225 pounds, 25 pounds, excuse me, played with LSU in college. He was just currently waived by the Patriots. But he's so interesting because he was just drafted back in 2025, and he's already been waived just, you know, over one year into him being in the NFL. And I always think it's great to give these young shots to these edge players. Yes, he's not on the 53. He's going to be on the practice squad, but he's still really young. He's got a great frame, has a lot of great traits from his time at LSU that I think possibly a new, you know, new scenery, a new defensive scheme, just a new just change of anything for Brayden Swinson could possibly untap some potential that I think Swinson still has. So really exciting to get him on the practice squad. But with all the diff- with, you know, these new three players that we did bring that brings our practice squad pretty much full, there could be some stragglers here and there. I know Omar Khan mentioned bringing in another safety. Maybe you can expect that. But for all of those news that, you know, is coming up here, you're going to want to make sure you're subscribed to the channel once again. And I hope you guys have a great rest of your day. We'll be back tomorrow for more Steelers news.