Report: Porter to get guaranteed $20M
FOXSports.com
Joey Porter was a salary cap casualty in Pittsburgh ... and apparently a lucky find in Miami.
According to a report on the Florida Sun-Sentinel web site, the Dolphins have agreed to terms with the former Steelers linebacker on a five-year, $32 million contract.
The deal is pending the successful completion of a physical, which Porter is expected to take either Tuesday or Wednesday.
Citing a source close to the negotiation, the newspaper reported the deal includes a $12 million signing bonus and another $8 million in guaranteed salary.
Porter, who was released by the Steelers last Thursday for salary-cap reasons, had also drawn strong interest from the Cincinnati Bengals.
The Dolphins always look like a playoff team during the offseason so lets see if they actually do it this year.
Cops: More men were in Porter fight
BY JEFF DARLINGTON
The fight between Dolphins linebacker Joey Porter and Bengals offensive tackle Levi Jones at a Las Vegas casino earlier this month was about football -- but it no longer appears to have been the one-on-one scrap initially described by police.
Instead, video surveillance revealed Porter punching Jones with a closed fist before other ''unidentified males'' also joined the attack on Porter's behalf, a report released by the Las Vegas Police Department said.
Jones, who suffered a small cut above his eye in the fight, spoke publicly for the first time about the incident. On the Bengals' official website, the lineman called the incident ``a cowardly assault by a coward.''
''One versus seven, six from behind,'' Jones told the website. 'The police report came out and told the truth. Joey Porter did not kick Levi Jones' [butt]. Basically what he did was walk up to me, get my attention talking trash while his boys jumped me from behind.
``They plotted the thing. He was shooting craps. I was playing blackjack. He saw me, there was no exchange before he just came up on me.''
A spokesman for the police department initially said an argument that occurred at a blackjack table between Jones and Porter escalated into a fight when the pair was escorted to the Palms Casino valet area.
Video surveillance, however, depicted the latest description of the event.
Porter, who was charged with misdemeanor battery, has not commented. Before the police report was made public, Dolphins coach Cam Cameron said he was content with Porter's explanation.
Cameron has not been available for comment since the report's release, as he has been on vacation with his wife this week.
Jones told police, according to the report, that the pair has a history of arguing on the football field, which fueled the fight. The Bengals and the Steelers (Porter's former team) play each other twice each season as divisional rivals.
Jones and Porter will meet again next season when Cincinnati travels to Miami for a regular-season game.
''Trust me, when we play Miami I have a lot bigger problems to worry about than Joey Porter,'' Jones told the website.
www.miamiherald.com
Jones: I got jumped before Porter hit me
ESPN.com news services
Cincinnati Bengals left tackle Levi Jones is still sporting a gash over his left eye from an altercation in a Las Vegas casino two weeks ago.
And he says ex-Steelers linebacker Joey Porter is not the only one to blame.
Jones told the Cincinnati Enquirer that he was jumped by six other men from behind before Porter hit him. Porter, now with the Miami Dolphins, was cited by police for misdemeanor battery and released. Police said the players, rivals on the field, exchanged trash talk at a casino blackjack table before the fracas.
Jones called it a "cowardly act," the Enquirer reported.
"[Porter] got my attention from the front and wouldn't get near me until the six guys jumped me from behind, [then] he took part," Jones told the Enquirer. "What started everything was the dude hit me from behind. From then on, I had to protect myself. I was attacked by seven guys. I don't know what man is going to withstand that, especially with an NFL player involved."
"It was like that, it was problematic for me and my family, especially when the true story wasn't out there," Jones told the newspaper. "The particulars about how everything went down, I mean, ESPN, all they wanted to report was Joey Porter hit me in the face."
Jones, who did not need stitches, would not say if he would file a civil suit, the Enquirer reported.
"We'll see how it plays out," he told the newspaper.