Joey Porter Jr. embraces fresh start with Cowboys after feeling 'disrespected' by Steelers

FRISCO, Texas -- Joey Porter Jr. was in the middle of watching the new Brad Pitt movie at 11:30 p.m. Wednesday night when his phone lit up. It was a text from his agent letting him know his contract stalemate with the Pittsburgh Steelers was over and that he was being traded to the Dallas Cowboys in exchange for a 2027 sixth-round pick and a 2028 second-round pick.  

"Man, I was excited. I'm not even going to lie. I was actually at the movies when I got the call, so I had to leave the movies and went home. But I mean, I was blessed. I was excited," Porter Jr. said after his first Cowboys practice on Thursday. "I called my people, and they were excited with me. So new chapter, new beginnings, and I'm ready."

How is it that the Cowboys were able to acquire Porter Jr. right after 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? He wasn't feeling the love from the franchise that drafted him with the first pick of the second round in the 2023 NFL Draft. Porter Jr., whose 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, is in the final year of his rookie deal in 2026. Having produced the way he has through his first three seasons, he felt he earned a long-term contract with the Steelers. 

Negotiations broke down, which happened to coincide with Porter Jr.'s back flaring up and him missing the first three games of the 2026 season. He said he did everything he "could possibly do at the time" that the Steelers coaches and trainers asked him to do, from being on the field to doing drills off to the side. Porter Jr. felt like he had a chance to play in the Steelers' "Thursday Night Football" matchup against the Cleveland Browns at the beginning of the week before Pittsburgh ruled him out on Wednesday. He said the decision for him not to play was more on his end. In Dallas, he's feeling valued after great chats with the Cowboys coaching staff, so he's ready to play without the security of a long-term deal to prove his worth to his new team. As for his back, it is "feeling better."

"Definitely, definitely. It was a hard process, a lot of ups and downs. Definitely felt disrespected and undervalued," Porter Jr. said. "But that's old news now. That's how I look at it. I'm onto new beginnings and new chapters, that's how I'm looking at it. I'm onto new beginnings, new chapters. And like I said, I'm a Cowboy. I'm in Dallas, so I'm happy about that."

Will Porter Jr. play on Sunday? 

Porter Jr. already feels like he has a good read on how things roll in Dallas, thanks to getting a full debrief from wide receiver George Pickens and offensive tackle Broderick Jones, both of whom were teammates of his with the Steelers. Dallas traded for Pickens last spring and Jones just before the start of the current season. 

"Man, just him [Pickens] and Broderick [Jones]. We're all Steeler guys. We came from the Steelers, so they just were happy for me. Like I said earlier, they were just open arms," Porter said. ... "He just basically was giving me the whole rundown of how things operate here and the culture. So the things he was telling me, I'm excited to be here. I'm willing, I'm ready. So that's mainly it."

Is he physically ready to play on Sunday in Houston against the Texans? Porter Jr. participated in practice on Thursday in the media viewing portion, going through individual and position drills. He also wasn't listed at all on the Cowboys' injury report. The 26-year-old is feeling good. 

"I'm feeling good. I'll talk to the guys. I mean, I just got here today, so we're just trying to take things day by day," Porter Jr. "And if everything looks good, then we should be out there."

When asked to put a percentage on the chances he plays on Sunday, he deferred to the Cowboys' coaching staff. Coach Brian Schottenheimer said his defense's newest playmaker "moved around well" on Thursday, and he said he didn't notice any mental mistakes from Porter Jr. That's why he chalked Porter Jr.'s Dallas practice debut as "a positive first day." There's hope Porter Jr. plays on Sunday. 

"I think as long as you have guys that are communicating well to him, and we're not sure where we'll put him yet, but with what I saw out there today, I don't have any questions that hopefully he'll be able to play in this game," Schottenheimer said Thursday. 

Should Porter Jr. play in Week 4, the Cowboys aren't expecting him to be ready to go for every defensive snap, given it would be his first game of the year after being sidelined the first three weeks of the season. 

"If he's out there, we'll have a very specific plan. Is it realistic to say he's going to play every play of the game? Probably not," Schottenheimer said. "But if he plays, we'll certainly have a good package for him and that needs to be seen through for the next day."

Fortunately for Porter, the last time he was on the football field in live game action was against the Texans, Dallas' Week 4 opponent. That was in the AFC wild card round, and even though Pittsburgh lost 30-6 that day, he feels comfortable translating his January experience to playing on Sunday. Porter Jr. was targeted seven times in that matchup, allowing just three completions for 26 yards. 

"Man, I think it really just gave me the utmost confidence because I feel like I played well last time I played them in the playoffs," Porter Jr. said. "So now the first time I'm suiting up, hopefully suiting up, it'll be against them. I mean, that would be ideal. I'm pretty used to their scheme and what they want to do with 12 [two-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Nico Collins], and I think I could be a matchup for that." 

Porter Jr.'s fit

Dallas defensive coordinator Christian Parker was in the middle of putting together his third-down packages for Sunday when Cowboys vice president of player personnel Will McClay interrupted his game prep. That's how he found out Porter Jr. would be a part of his defense. 

"I was happy," Parker said Thursday. "It extended the night a little bit because I had to step out and have some conversations. That's always a late night, but it was later than usual because of that. But it was for good reason."  

Some on social media have expressed concern about how Porter Jr., a traditional man coverage corner, fits into Parker's Vic Fangio-based defense, which features plenty of zone coverage and disguised looks. There aren't any doubts about that at The Star, the Cowboys' team headquarters. 

"He fits well," Parker said. "He's a high-level coverage player. He plays with great length. He has a lot of experience against a lot of high-level receivers, so we have evidence of how he does in that environment. Really excited about adding him in."  

Dallas actually runs man coverage on 20.2% of their defensive snaps in 2026, 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 blend man and zone coverage. 

"A lot of zones in the world that we live in are pattern match zones. So once it gets past a certain point, you're playing man," Parker said. "So especially at the corner position, whether it's you're playing quarters, you're playing cover three, you're playing man to man truly. More times than not, corners are in situations where they're responsible for number one. So that'll kind of fluctuate based off of the game and the opponent, how much true man we play. But for a player like him more times than not, he'll be matched up appropriately."

Parker also called Porter Jr. a "boundary eraser" as a player who can come in and lock down opposing teams' top wideouts in one-on-one on the outside. Other players who filled that role for Fangio and Parker include 2024 NFL Defensive Player of the Year cornerback Pat Surtain II with the Denver Broncos and All-Pro cornerback Quinyon Mitchell with the Philadelphia Eagles. 

"I think that when you have guys who can erase things in one-on-one matchups on the backside, then you can do different things to manipulate coverage," Parker said. "You can add plus ones in run defense. You don't want to put guys on the island the whole game, but you can definitely kind of move some pieces around and make other things better. I think when you have guys who can play man-to-man at a high level and put their hands on people, you remove access from the offense, and you just trust the best on the best. And so he's [Porter Jr.] certainly been tasked with that before previously in his career at Pittsburgh. So as we kind of onboard him, we'll see what that looks like in the mix with our other guys."

The one coaching point Parker will work on with Porter Jr. is how to avoid the attention of the referees when dropping back in coverage, as well as generating more takeaways. Porter Jr. has just three career interceptions, one each season, and he leads the NFL with 14 defensive pass interference penalties since entering the league in 2023 despite not playing a game yet in the 2026 season. 

"Yeah, first of all, you have to get him in the building and assess where his mindset has been when it comes to that. When you play an aggressive style of ball, penalties are going to be a part of the deal. It is what it is," Parker said. "You obviously want to limit those. So there's certain things you do in practice that were done in the past, whether you're putting boxing gloves on guys to prevent holding or you're doing more ball drills, the more that you can do the better in terms of raising the awareness. The most important thing is not letting the guy that's getting targeted catch the football. The next step is catching it yourself. So we're going to get him in the building and onboard him and see where he's at with those things. We won't be the first coaches that have tried to improve those things with him, but he does a lot of things at a high level that'll give us a chance to improve that."  

Ready for the Dallas drama 

Feeling the love and being valued again as a Cowboy has Porter Jr. comfortable playing out the 2026 season without a long-term contract, something he wasn't willing to do in Pittsburgh. 

"Bet on myself. I feel like at the end of the day, you got to always have that in yourself," Porter Jr. said of his 2026 mindset. "Just choose you at the end of the day and that's what I'm doing."

Pickens, his Dallas BFF, went through a bit of contract drama himself this spring before eventually settling on signing the Cowboys' franchise tag tender. If that's what it takes to remain a Cowboy over the long haul, Porter Jr. is willing to endure the classic contract back-and-forth that comes with negotiating with Jerry Jones. 

"If it [franchise tag drama] comes with it [being a Cowboy], I'm ready," Porter Jr. said.