When the Pittsburgh Steelers officially ruled cornerback Joey Porter Jr. out for Thursday night’s big game against the Cleveland Browns, it was not hard to see where the situation was going.
A trade and an eventual split seemed inevitable.
Now it is here.
Including to multiple reports on Wednesday night, including NFL insiders Tom Pelissero, Jonathan Jones and Jordan Schultz, the Steelers and Dallas Cowboys are finalizing a deal for the disgruntled cornerback.
Steelers’ Joey Porter Jr. saga is finally concluding
The Steelers will reportedly be receiving a 2028 second-round pick and a 2027 conditional sixth-round pick as part of the trade.
Porter Jr. has not played for the Steelers all season, and while a “back injury” and “conditioning” have been the official reasons, it is almost certainly due to his unhappiness over his contract situation.
Porter Jr. is in the final year of his rookie contract and did not get a new extension with the team before the season. Since the Steelers famously do not negotiate contracts with players during the season, that cut down everybody’s options, and at some point somebody was going to have to blink.
Either the Steelers would have to trade him or break their long-standing policy, or Porter would have to play.
Eventually the Steelers blinked.
Steelers head coach Mike McCarthy had been subtly applying pressure to Porter Jr. over the past couple of weeks, talking about how close he was to playing and that everything was just about getting him ramped up to full speed. But when he appeared back on the injury report on Wednesday and was ruled out, that seemed to be the line in the sand for the franchise.
Now he is reportedly on his way to Dallas.
What’s interesting about this for Porter Jr. is that a new contract is reportedly not on the horizon.
If his issue is money, will he be willing to get back on the field?
And if he does get back on the field it would seem to indicate that he just simply wanted to get away from the Steelers and get a fresh start.
Porter Jr. is a good player, but the jury is still out on how good he is. He had a strong rookie year, took a step back in year two and was outstanding in year three. That is a wide variance in his performance, and any new contract extension worth big money at this point would be a major gamble that could go in any direction.
When he eventually does decide to start playing, there is going to be pressure for him to perform. Also a lot of motivation.
With Porter Jr. now out of the mix in Pittsburgh, their cornerback room consists of veterans Jamel Dean, Asante Samuel Jr., Brandin Echols, Jalen Ramsey and rookie Daylen Everette. Dean was a big addition in free agency, while Everette is a player they are extremely high on long-term.