Steelers Trade Joey Porter Jr.

PITTSBURGH, PA — After a months long contract stalemate with Joey Porter Jr., the Steelers are trading the starting cornerback to the Dallas Cowboys.

The move was announced late Wednesday on the Cowboys' website.

In return for Porter, the Steelers will receive a 2027 sixth-round pick and a 2028 second-round pick, the NFL Network's Jane Slater reported Wednesday evening.

Porter Jr. is in the final season of his 2023 rookie contract and was seeking an extension, but he and the Steelers could not reach a deal.

He did not practice during training camp was was inactive for each of the Steelers' first three games with a reported back injury. Just hours before the trade, the Steelers had ruled him out for Thursday night's game against the Cleveland Browns.

USA Today's Charles Curtis game the Steelers a B-plus grade on the trade.

"You know the deal," Curtis wrote. "If you're going to lose a player for nothing, you trade them for something before that happens. And there's a school of thought that Porter isn't as good as he seems on paper. So if all of that is the case? Pittsburgh wins here.

CBS Sports gave the Steelers a B-minus grade on the deal.

"From a performance standpoint, losing Porter makes the Steelers a weaker team," the website's Bryan DeArdo wrote. But after the two sides couldn't agree to terms before Week 1, Porter essentially forced their hand. The Steelers had no choice but to trade him."

Porter Jr. was a 2023 second-round draft choice out of Penn State. His father, Joey Porter Sr., is a former Steelers linebacker and onetime assistant coach for the team.