The Steel City impasse is over.
The Pittsburgh Steelers are trading cornerback Joey Porter Jr. to the Dallas Cowboys in exchange for a 2027 sixth-round pick and a 2028 second-round pick, NFL Network’s Jane Slater reported Wednesday evening.
Netflix’s Tom Pelissero first reported the trade. The Cowboys announced the transaction.
Porter Jr., entering the final season of his 2023 rookie contract, was seeking an extension, but he and Pittsburgh were unable to come to terms.
The 26-year-old Porter Jr. had missed each of the Steelers’ first three games this season. He was listed as having a back injury throughout training camp, but as of late had appeared on the Steelers’ practice report as being a full or limited participant due to conditioning. Earlier Thursday, Porter had been ruled out for the team’s Thursday night game against the Cleveland Browns with the designation officially for not injury related/conditioning/back.
Now, the consternation in Pittsburgh has concluded and Porter Jr., whose father was a four-time Pro Bowler and Super Bowl champion with the Steelers from 1999-2011, will move on to helping the Cowboys shore up a defense that was supposed to be much improved but has continued to be a disappointment.
Steelers — and former Cowboys — head coach Mike McMarthy was upfront in declaring Pittsburgh and Porter at an impasse this offseason before general manager Omar Khan declared that there would be no negotiations during the season. Meanwhile, Porter hadn’t been practicing, instead stationed on the physically unable to perform list throughout training camp with the aforementioned back injury. He was removed from the PUP list on Sunday, Aug. 31 to be included on the team’s initial 53-man roster. Days later, Porter indicated there was a chance he would not play this year without a new deal.
As it turns out, he would never play for the Steelers again.
Porter’s desire for a lucrative second career contract came as Pittsburgh had been shoring up its 2023 draft class, having locked up ’23 third-rounder Darnell Washington and ’23 fourth-rounder Nick Herbig before signing Porter’s fellow second-rounder Keeanu Bentonto an extension.
Another Steelers 2023 pick they did not re-sign was first-round pick Broderick Jones, who was also traded to the Cowboys.
Jones has played in all three games for Dallas, but just one of his 17 snaps have come on offense.
Porter was taken 32nd overall to begin the second round (the 2023 draft had only 31 first-round selections after the Miami Dolphins were penalized and lost theirs) and was a mainstay in the Steelers’ starting lineup over the past three years.
The 6-foot-2, 193-pounder has been solid in coverage, but has struggled in the run game at times. Nonetheless, he’d been a key cog for Pittsburgh with 41 starts in three seasons, 165 tackles, three interceptions and 31 pass breakups.
He’ll join first-year Cowboys defensive coordinator Christian Parker, whose unit is 30th in total defense.
The Cowboys (1-2), who haven’t logged an interception this season, have one cornerback spot locked down by DaRon Bland, while Shavon Revel Jr. and Cobie Durant have also earned starts. Both missed practice on Wednesday.
Dallas travels to play the Houston Texans (0-3) on Sunday.
