The Pittsburgh Steelers, for … reasons, do not negotiate with players during the regular season, which has created an acrimonious situation with one of the most important players on their defense.

Veteran cornerback Joey Porter Jr. held out throughout training camp and the preseason, and has now been battling through a back injury that kept him sidelined for the first two games of the regular season.

According to a report from ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Pittsburgh believes they’ll have Porter Jr. on the field in Week 3 against the bitter AFC North rival Cincinnati Bengals.

However, with Porter Jr. entering the final year of his rookie contract, and the two sides having been locked in a bitter impasse, it’s anyone’s guess whether the 26-year-old will actually suit up.

Likewise, there doesn’t seem to be any momentum towards a new deal being agreed to, especially if Pittsburgh sticks to its own rules and philosophies about not negotiating once the games start to count for real.

"I'm with Joe, whatever he's doing -- whether it's injury, whether it's contract, whatever it is, I respect it," Steelers linebacker Patrick Queen told Thursday, via ESPN. "I'm behind him 100%. I tell him every single time, 'I respect how you go about your business every single day.'"

Pittsburgh’s ironclad stance would seem to suggest that a trade involving a 6-foot-2, 193-pound, physical cornerback with outstanding ball skills who held quarterbacks to a minuscule 55.9 passer rating in coverage last season, could at the very least be a possibility.

But, what could the Steelers fetch in return for Porter Jr.?

“He’s probably worth a first-round pick,” a general manager tells Between The Hashmarks, of Porter, on the condition of anonymity to speak freely about another team. “And some combination of middle or late-round picks.”

If that’s the going rate, given that the Steelers have such an uncertain future at quarterback, and seem to perpetually be clinging to relevance in the AFC North for dear life to make the playoffs only to make a first-round exit, general manager Omar Khan should probably consider selling Porter into what could be a robust market of contenders looking to bolster a premium position.

That sort of haul for Porter should also be more than enough for Art Rooney to finally embrace the difficult reality that a rebuild isn’t just necessary, but may just be what’s called for to avoid a backslide into irrelevance.

“I’m not even sure what the Steelers are doing from a roster construction standpoint,” an AFC South Scouting Director tells Between The Hashmarks. “Ever since Omar took over, they have no plan at all, and people anointed him for GM with no real experience on how to put a roster together.

“After next year, Pittsburgh will likely be without T.J. Watt, Cameron Heyward, Aaron Rodgers, and I would think there’s a chance DK Metcalf and Jalen Ramsey are elsewhere, and they don’t have youth waiting in the wings at any, or at least many of those spots.”

Sunday’s performance could be the ideal inflection point for Khan and the Steelers to reverse course, realize that bringing Rodgers back was a mistake, and start at least trying to plot a different course for the future.

In New England, Rodgers was sacked three times, tossed an untimely fourth-quarter interception, and the Patriots forced Pittsburgh to go three-and-out six times in a disastrous 20-3 Steelers loss in Foxboro.

Trading Porter would be a first indication that the Steelers are ready to start accumulating assets to either mine a potential franchise quarterback or get younger across the roster.

Likewise, if Rodgers’ 187-yard, one interception and three-point debacle is an indication of what’s to come, adding a second first-round pick to the Steelers’ war chest entering one of the most promising quarterback draft classes in years could prove advantageous.

With eight minutes remaining in the third quarter, Patriots linebackers Christian Ellis and Robert Spillane blasted Rodgers into this century on a brutal sack.

Maybe the Steelers’ front office should join him here.

Porter’s skill set, and his upside could make him a difference-maker and building block for a team either built to win immediately or on the cusp of launching into a window.

If Porter doesn’t return next Sunday at Acrisure Stadium, there are several potential ideal fits with cap space and draft capital to make a trade happen: