The Cowboys needed help in the secondary.
Jerry Jones was on the flagship station, 105.3 The Fan, earlier this week and alluded to some potential moves.
“I’d just say we’re right on top of it,” Jones said. “We’re very aware of the moving parts out here, we should be. And communication is a big part of that. It’s a big part of that. Communication at all levels, at my level, at Stephen’s level, and the scout’s level. We all have contacts, and this is a time when you really can have discussions that could be productive. The answer to your question is yes, there’s conversations going on.”
The Cowboys have agreed to acquire cornerback Joey Porter Jr. from the Pittsburgh Steelers, sending a 2027 sixth-round pick and a 2028 second-round pick to Pittsburgh.
This is the third deal with Pittsburgh in the last year and a half, despite even having some draft day drama between the two clubs.
A Really Good Corner…With Some Questions
Through three seasons, Porter has 31 pass breakups and three interceptions in 41 starts. I got to see him play coming out of Penn State in 2023, he was one of my favorite players in that draft class. He has been a solid piece to the Steelers’ defense in his first three years.
The strange part is that we haven’t seen him play this season.
While Porter enters the final year of his contract, he, of course, seeks to have a contract extension, something Pittsburgh did not come to terms with this offseason. Unfortunately, poor timing has seen Porter miss the first three games of the year with this aggravating ‘back soreness.’
Which it must be contagious with contracts, as this was something that Micah Parsons dealt with before being traded to Green Bay; fortunately for Parsons, he took a magic flight to Green Bay that healed him up…hopefully that magic American Airlines flight works the same from Pittsburgh to Dallas.
Porter was actually listed as a full participant Monday and Tuesday before being limited Wednesday and ruled out for Pittsburgh’s Thursday night game. Hours later, he was a Cowboy.
Dallas hasn’t announced an extension, so that’s something else to watch. But you would imagine the Cowboys did their homework with Porter and his representation regarding both his back and his contract before giving up a future second-round pick. Whether he’s ready to play Sunday against Houston might be a stretch, but we’ll see.
I Hope We Got One
As I mentioned, I like Joey Porter, while he hasn’t been an All-Pro, he has still been a solid contributor for the Steelers.
According to Next Gen Stats, Porter hasn’t allowed a touchdown across his last 1,467 regular-season coverage snaps dating back to Week 8 of 2023 — the longest streak by any cornerback in the Next Gen Stats era and more than twice the next-longest active streak. He also allowed just a 53.0% completion rate in coverage last season, 10th-lowest among qualifying defenders.
That’s the Joey Porter Jr. the Cowboys are hoping they just traded for.
He will step in on the opposite side of DaRon Bland and open up options for the Cowboys to move some members of the secondary around to handle all of the depth injuries.
We won’t look too far ahead just yet, but with Porter’s deal expiring this year, the Cowboys have to make a decision on Pickens and several other players as well. It will make for an interesting offseason.
As for draft capital, Jerry Jones said he was going to make some moves, and well, there’s nothing more dangerous than an old guy with some draft picks to move. The Cowboys outlook for the 2027 NFL Draft:
1st – lower of own & GB
2nd – own
4th – PIT (acquired in Broderick Jones trade)
7th – NE via HOU (acquired in Nate Thomas trade)
One interesting tidbit from the past year and a half.
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