Why the Cowboys traded for CB Joey Porter Jr. from the Steelers and where his contract stands
Dallas scooped up the Steelers' disgruntled top cornerback late Wednesday night before Week 4
• 7 min read
Dallas Cowboys owner/general manager Jerry Jones teased making a major move after the team's 37-20 Week 2 win over the Washington Commanders. Jones made good on his word late Wednesday night by acquiring cornerback Joey Porter Jr. from the Pittsburgh Steelers for a 2027 sixth-round pick and a 2028 second-round pick, a team source confirmed. The news was first reported by The Ringer.
Porter Jr. did not suit up for the Steelers in the first three weeks because he was in a staredown with Pittsburgh to secure a long-term contract extension. The 26-year-old, the first pick of the second round in the 2023 NFL Draft, enters the final year of his rookie deal this season and reportedly sought more than $30 million per year on a new deal.
Six cornerbacks in the entire league have such a contract, and Pittsburgh maintains a tradition of not negotiating multi-year extensions during a season. Porter Jr. held himself out of play with what the team officially listed as both back and condition issues, and he will now be a Cowboy.
Porter Jr.'s current worth
Porter Jr. has a solid argument for a substantial raise despite no Pro Bowl selections and just three career interceptions in three seasons — one each year. He led the NFL in passer rating against as the primary defender in coverage in 2025, among 128 players with at least 60 pass attempts thrown their way, with a 49.1 passer rating allowed. No other corner allowed a sub-50 passer rating against, so Porter can claim he was in a different stratosphere as a cover corner than the rest of the league the last time he took the field.
Porter Jr. ranked ahead of other All-Pro and Pro Bowl cornerbacks who have received big paydays in recent years, like Patrick Surtain II (four years, $96 million), Derek Stingley Jr. (three years, $90 million) and Christian Gonzalez (four years, $135 million). Gonzalez's $33.75 million average per-year salary is the highest among all NFL corners. Porter Jr.'s 48.1% career completion percentage allowed ranks as the fourth-lowest in the NFL since he entered the league in 2023 among those with at least 150 passes thrown their way, per CBS Sports Research.
| NFL passer rating against as primary defender leaders, 2025 season, min. 60 pass attempts | Passer rating | Current contract |
|---|---|---|
Joey Porter Jr. (DAL) | 49.1 | Rookie deal |
Quinyon Mitchell (PHI) | 53.8 | Rookie deal |
Pat Surtain II (DEN) | 59.7 | 4 years, $96M |
Derek Stingley Jr. (HOU) | 62.1 | 3 years, $90M |
Christian Gonzalez (NE) | 63.7 | 4 years, $135M |
Jaylen Watson (LAR) | 63.7 | 3 years, $51M |
Porter Jr. is currently set to become a free agent next offseason, but the Cowboys could franchise tag him if they fail to come to an agreement on a new deal before the start of the 2027 league year. The 2027 offseason will be a tricky one for Dallas, with Pro Bowl wide receiver George Pickens also set to become a free agent. Dallas could tag him for a second year in a row if the two sides fail to reach a new long-term agreement with the 25-year-old wideout.
How Porter's contract fits into Dallas' cap space
Dallas currently possesses $20.8 million in cap space in 2026, the eighth-most in the NFL per OverTheCap.com. Whatever the Cowboys don't use this year can be rolled over to their 2027 cap ledger, which currently sits at -$13.1 million. Simply rolling over this year's surplus would get the Cowboys into the green from a team cap sheet perspective.
Additional contract restructures for cornerback DaRon Bland, tight end Jake Ferguson and tight end Kenny Clark, all of whom restructured in the 2026 offseason, could free up additional room. The same goes for defensive tackle Quinnen Williams', quarterback Dak Prescott's and wide receiver CeeDee Lamb's existing, multi-year deals.
So yes, there is a world where the Cowboys could extend one or both of Pickens and Porter Jr., or extend one and tag the other next spring. How both of these negotiations go will be worth pulling out the popcorn and following closely. Both Pickens and Porter Jr. are represented by agent David Mulugheta and his Athletes First firm. That's the same representation All-Pro edge rusher Micah Parsons had when negotiations between him and the Cowboys broke down and ultimately ended with him being traded to the Green Bay Packers a week before the 2025 season began.
Mulugheta, Jerry, and Stephen Jones mended the fence when Pickens signed his franchise tag tender and showed up for mandatory minicamp this offseason. If Porter Jr. were to depart in free agency on a top-of-the-line contract, Dallas could receive a 2028 third-round compensatory pick back. That would mean they would have moved back roughly 20ish spots in the draft to rent Porter Jr. for the 2026 season in that scenario.
Why Dallas traded for Porter Jr. and their defensive investment
The why behind the Cowboys trading for Porter Jr. entering Week 4 is pretty simple. Jones will turn 84 years old on Oct. 13, and he's desperate to make a significant push for a fourth Super Bowl ring while he still can. Through three weeks, Dallas is 1-2 with the NFL's No. 7 scoring offense (29.3 points per game) and the No. 25 scoring defense (27.3 points per game allowed).
Since trading Parsons at the start of the 2025 season, the Cowboys are allowing the most points per game (29.7), the second-most total yards per game (378.5) and the third-most passing yards per game (244.9). They've hauled in the second-fewest interceptions (6) in that span.
This season, the 2026 Cowboys defense has become the third team since 1963 (when team sacks became an officially tracked stat) to allow 375-plus total yards per game (387.0, third-worst in the NFL), have two or fewer sacks (2, third-fewest in the NFL) and no interceptions (tied for last in the NFL) through a season's first three games. Per CBS Sports Research, the other two such teams are the 1976 New York Jets and the 2022 Arizona Cardinals. Neither of those teams hit the five-win mark when their defenses started off this worrisome through the first three games.
| 375-plus total YPG allowed, 2 or fewer sacks and no interceptions in first three games, since 1963 | Final W-L |
|---|---|
2026 Dallas Cowboys | ? |
2022 Arizona Cardinals | 4-13 |
1976 New York Jets | 3-11 |
* Team sacks became an officially tracked statistic in 1963
The trade for Porter Jr. marks another key move in Dallas' roster churn to provide first-year defensive coordinator Christian Parker the personnel he needs to turn the Cowboys' sagging defense around. A whopping 83% of Dallas' defensive snaps this season have come by players in either their first or second year with the Cowboys, the second-highest rate in the NFL behind only the New York Jets (85%) per CBS Sports Research.
Jones has invested 11 draft picks on defense, picks made in the draft or as trade compensation for current players, from the 2026 to 2028 drafts, with five of those picks coming from either the first or second round. Since trading Parsons in 2025, the Cowboys' record is 8-11-1, which ranks 21st out of the league's 32 teams.
| Notable Cowboys roster churn on defense, since Micah Parsons' trade in 2025 | Acquired Via |
|---|---|
Trade with NYJ | |
DT Kenny Clark | Trade with GB |
Free agency from LAC | |
EDGE Rashan Gary | Trade with GB |
EDGE Malachi Lawrence | Draft (23rd overall in 2026) |
LB Dee Winters | Trade with SF |
Draft (92nd overall in 2026) | |
CB Joey Porter Jr. | Trade with PIT |
CB Cobie Durant | Free agency from LAR |
Draft (11th overall in 2026) | |
Free agency from ARI |
Porter Jr.'s on-field fit
The Cowboys claimed to have all the confidence in the world in 2023 first-team All-Pro cornerback DaRon Bland and 2025 third-round pick corner Shavon Revel. But Dallas decided their team's CB1 wasn't in the building and went out to grab Porter Jr. to change that.
It will be interesting to see how the high-end man-coverage cornerback who prefers to go one-on-one against opposing receivers will fit in Parker's zone-coverage-based scheme with plenty of disguise looks. Dallas has run man coverage on 20.2% of their defensive snaps this season, the 12th-highest rate in the league. So there will be opportunities for Porter Jr. to do what he enjoys most while lining up as an outside corner in zone coverage as well. His presence could allow Parker to be even more creative schematically with hybrid looks that possess a mixture of man and zone coverage.
Injuries have ravaged Dallas' secondary early on this season, so the teammates Parker lines up with when he first hits the field, most likely on "Thursday Night Football" in Week 5 when Dallas hosts the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, may not be who he plays next to all year. Porter Jr.'s presence could also push Bland back to the slot where he lined up as a rookie in 2022 and intercepted five passes. Such a switch could also have a ripple effect of moving Downs from his hybrid nickel/linebacker lite role to deep safety. Perhaps veteran Cobie Durant's starting spot could come into question with Bland and Porter Jr. as mainstays for Dallas' defense.
What is clear is that Dallas' cornerback position is at its deepest since 2023, when 2019 NFL Defensive Player of the Year cornerback Stephon Gilmore lined up alongside Bland, then-nickel corner Jourdan Lewis, and others. The 2023 season is also the last time the Cowboys reached the postseason. Thanks to Porter Jr.'s presence, Parker and the Cowboys' defense have much greater depth to utilize going forward in 2026.
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