Following months of contract negotiations and dealing with a lingering back injury, cornerback Joey Porter Jr. of the Pittsburgh Steelers will be playing for the Dallas Cowboys.
Porter was shipped to the Cowboys by the Steelers for a 2027 sixth-round draft choice and a 2028 second-rounder, the Cowboys said Thursday.
Welcome to Dallas, JPJ 🤠
We have traded a 2027 6th-round pick & a 2028 2nd-round pick to the Steelers for CB Joey Porter Jr. #DallasCowboys | @blockchain pic.twitter.com/QO3iIZm4c9
— Dallas Cowboys (@dallascowboys) October 1, 2026
It came after an offseason-long ordeal as Porter, who was one of the Steelers’ second-round picks in 2023, waited for a contract extension and battled a back injury, per ESPN.
At the crux of the contract negotiation was the guaranteed money that would be included in the deal, sources said to ESPN. Neither side had made any progress toward agreement on terms, despite discussions as late as hours before the first game of the season for the Steelers against the Atlanta Falcons. Talks were put on hold as the Steelers do not negotiate during the regular season, an organizational practice.
According to a source from the league, ESPN’s Adam Schefter was told that there is a “chance” that Porter will debut for the Cowboys Sunday against the Houston Texans. The Cowboys, whose secondary is severely depleted, will try to get Porter game-ready for Sunday.
In three years with the Cowboys, Porter started in 41 games with three interceptions. However, he missed all of training camp and the preseason due to aggravation of his back injury while participating in a mobility drill on the first day of camp. He was listed on the physically unable to perform list up until cutdown day at the end of August.
Up until this week, he was a limited participant in all regular-season practices as coach Mike McCarthy said that Porter was in the “ramp-up” process throughout the first month of the season.
