Joey Porter: Pursue or No?

Porter has spent his entire eleven year career as a 3-4 outside linebacker whose specialty is rushing the passer. Six times he has registered at least 9 sacks in a season, including 2008 and 2009. It is likely the Dolphins will cut him, making Joey a free agent. As a released player, there will be no final eight restrictions on the Jets pursuing him. He has a track record as a big talker like the coach and many players on this team. Since Gang Green is looking to upgrade the pass rush, Porter would be a great fit, right?

I personally do not think so. My reasoning starts with the obvious question. Why are the Dolphins going to cut Porter? To put it simply, he's been a selfish player and a terrible teammate. He reportedly refused to come off the field when coaches sent in a sub in 2009. That's frightening insubordination. The Jets are trying to win the Super Bowl. They can't afford to have guys putting the team at risk of losing because of such incredibly selfish behavior. Let's not even touch on the problem moves like that can cause in the locker room.

That would be enough for me to say no to Porter, but there's another pretty glaring fact. He's not a very productive player anymore. Yes, he had 9 sacks in 2009. He added only 11 pressures and 5 hits. The guy he would presumably replace, Bryan Thomas, had twice as many pressures and just as many hits. Yes, sacks are great, but they aren't the end all. A feast or famine pass rush when it comes to sacks isn't an effective one. If quarterbacks have time to consistently sit back in the pocket, they'll succeed. Teams need to supplement the sacks with constant pressure and hits to make the quarterback uncomfortable. Porter's inability to help out when he's not getting sacks makes it unclear he'd bring more to the table than Thomas in that department. He's also a one trick pony. All he does is go after the quarterback. He's not any good in coverage or against the run, areas where Thomas is very good.

This last year was a bad one. I don't think it's coming back for Porter at 32 years old. This is different from Adalius Thomas. Thomas wasn't in a scheme that really suited him. He wasn't happy. He has performed at a Pro Bowl level in Rex's defense.

There's nothing to suggest Porter would be an upgrade over Bryan Thomas. I'd go as far as to call him a downgrade. Could he help as depth and as a situational player on passing downs? Yes, but he's also shown he's not willing to take a reduced role and will go to frightening extremes to show this.

I vote no. I vote no again. I vote no a million times. I would be very upset signing somebody like this.

How do you vote?