After contract negotiations that spanned the offseason through the first three weeks of the regular season, Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Joey Porter Jr. has found a new home with the Dallas Cowboys.
The Steelers traded Porter to the Cowboys for a 2027 sixth-round pick and a 2028 second-rounder, Dallas announced Thursday. This is the third trade between the Cowboys and Steelers in the past two years.
Porter, the Steelers' 2023 second-round pick who has been sidelined by a back injury and inactive through three weeks, had been seeking a contract extension. There was a significant difference between the Steelers' view of Porter's value and how Porter values himself, with the core issue being the structure of the contract, sources told ESPN.
The Cowboys needed cornerback help, and owner and general manager Jerry Jones has been hinting since training camp that the team would be willing to give up draft capital to help this season's team.
A league source told ESPN's Adam Schefter that there is a "chance" that Porter will make his Cowboys debut Sunday against the Houston Texans. Porter's last NFL game came in the Steelers wild-card round loss in January to that very team.
ESPN's Steelers reporter Brooke Pryor, Cowboys reporter Todd Archer, national NFL reporters Jeremy Fowler and Dan Graziano and NFL analyst Ben Solak dive into what's next for Porter in Dallas, his chances for a contract extension, the impact on the Steelers' defense and grades for the trade.
How'd we get here, from Steelers trading their star corner to Dallas ahead of Week 4?
A confluence of factors contributed to the end of the monthslong Porter saga. Porter not playing in Week 4 despite optimism from the team that he would suit up for the Cleveland Browns game Thursday (8:15 p.m. ET, Prime Video) was one factor, I'm told. The team and player essentially had reached a point of no return. There was no chance of the sides reaching a long-term deal, and Porter wanted out.
Meanwhile, Dallas, upon returning from its game in Brazil, assessed its dire secondary. Injuries across multiple positions amplified the team's need to add an impact player on the back end.
The belief among some inside the league is that the Steelers originally wanted compensation equal to a first-round draft pick, but as weeks went by, they decided to take the best deal available now. It's very likely they weren't going to get a first-round pick for Porter at any point. -- Fowler
What are you hearing on Porter's extension potential, with Dallas having multiple high-profile players set for 2027 free agency?
According to my sources, the Cowboys did not make this trade contingent upon a contract extension for Porter, and they do not plan to extend him during this season. So he goes into the same bucket as George Pickens, DeMarvion Overshown and anyone else on the Cowboys' roster who is eligible for free agency at the end of this season.
Of course it's always possible plans change and they extend a player in-season, but given the Cowboys' recent history with these situations, it's unlikely we see that unless the deal is very much on the team's terms. If Porter is looking to maximize his value and get top-of-market cornerback money, the strong likelihood is that he needs to play this season out and try to get that on the free agent market next offseason. The Cowboys also would, of course, be able to use the franchise or transition tag to keep him off the market, though they can only do that with one player per year -- and as I mentioned, they will have several choices.
It's also worth noting that Porter's agent, David Mulugheta, is the same agent who represents Pickens, Overshown and several other Cowboys (plus Micah Parsons, who got traded from Dallas to Green Bay last year after an ugly contract standoff). So it's fair to assume Porter and his agent are well aware of the Cowboys' plans and their expectation that he'll play for them even in the absence of a new deal. -- Graziano
How will Porter Jr. fit into the Cowboys' secondary?
He walks into a secondary needing help based on availability and ability. The Cowboys are without cornerback Cobie Durant (hamstring) for at least one more game, and cornerback Shavon Revel Jr. is dealing with knee and ankle issues. They are extremely banged up at safety with Jalen Thompson (hamstring) and P.J. Locke (plantar fascia) on injured reserve and Malik Hooker limited in practice Wednesday as he works his way back from a fractured forearm.
Porter is known for his man-to-man skills, and while new coordinator Christian Parker comes from the Vic Fangio coaching tree, he has run more man coverage in the first three games (24.8%) than the league average (23.2%).
Since 2023, opposing quarterbacks have completed 56% of their passes when Porter has been the nearest defender, according to NFL Next Gen Stats, which is 13th lowest among defensive players with at least 100 targets.
The Cowboys are one of three teams without an interception this season and opposing quarterbacks have completed 72.6% of their passes versus Dallas. With two sacks in three games and the cost of acquiring a premier pass rusher seen as astronomical, the Cowboys are hoping better coverage can improve their pass rush. -- Archer
With so much money spent on the defense, what does the Steelers' plan look like for that unit now?
Losing Porter is an undeniable hit to the Steelers' secondary and its depth, but it's not all bad news. New defensive coordinator Patrick Graham has played more zone coverage than man-to-man defense through the team's first three games, and the Steelers have an up-and-coming prospect who fared well in his first extended playing time.
Against the Cincinnati Bengals, rookie third-round pick Daylen Everette filled in for Jamel Dean at outside corner in the first half while Dean had an injury evaluated, and when Dean returned in the second, Everette replaced Asante Samuel Jr. and played opposite Dean.
While Samuel is a more compact, speedy defensive back, at 6-foot-1, 196 pounds, Everette is a closer physical match to Porter (6-2). With eight draft picks in 2027 and an extra 2028 second-round pick, the Steelers could also look to add to the group via trade. -- Pryor
How would you grade the trade from both sides?
B for the Cowboys, C+ for the Steelers. Porter can have a rising tide impact on the Cowboys secondary, clarifying the roles of other players and enhancing the whole unit in the process. His strengths are certainly his length and physicality, such that he can line up in press -- but he has been in press alignments on only 30.6% of his snaps over his career, just above the league average for cornerbacks (24.1%). Porter is a much better man coverage defender than he is in zone, and the Cowboys are actually running more man coverage (24.8%) under Parker than the league average (23.2%) over the first three weeks. The Cowboys got much, much better in the secondary -- though the move is not without risk.
For the Steelers, Porter's recurring back ailments seemed incurable without an extension or a relocation -- what can you do? Porter reportedly had contract demands up at the top of the cornerback market, where Devon Witherspoon and Christian Gonzalez recently reset elite deals to clear $33 million annually. I'm not sold that Porter is a top-tier corner deserving of that top money. But because the Steelers let this go on for so long and bleed into the regular season, they were only able to acquire a sixth-round pick and a future second-round pick for a young, ascendent cover corner. They could have -- and should have -- gotten at least a first-round pick by playing this differently and dealing Porter in the spring or earlier in the summer. Read the full grade here. -- Solak