Steelers fans got a reminder on Monday night that some wounds don’t close fast.
Dallas rolled into Philadelphia and walked out with a 38-21 win on Monday Night Football, and two former Pittsburgh pieces were front and center. George Pickens made his presence felt with four catches on six targets for 57 yards and a touchdown, while Joey Porter kept things quiet on his side of the ball, allowing just 10 yards on five targets.
For Steelers fans, that kind of night has to sting. Since May 2025, Pittsburgh has sent Pickens, offensive tackle Broderick Jones and cornerback Joey Porter Jr. to the Cowboys, and all three were supposed to be part of the future in Pittsburgh. Instead, they’re helping shape things in Dallas.
That’s what makes this so irritating for a Steelers fan base that spent the 1990s learning how easy it is to root against the Cowboys. It’s one thing to dislike Dallas. It’s another to watch former Steelers flash in Cowboys uniforms while Pittsburgh watches from a distance.
The frustration only grows because Pickens and Porter were both second-round hits in back-to-back drafts, in 2022 and 2023. That kind of draft success is supposed to pay off down the line. Instead, both players are gone before their primes, and both are producing for a team wearing the villain label in plenty of Pittsburgh homes.
Pickens’ exit came after his attitude and antics pushed him out of Pittsburgh. Porter’s departure followed a one-year wait that ended with him holding out to be the league’s highest-paid cornerback, after what was described as a fake back injury.
And there’s another layer that makes it even more awkward: neither Pickens nor Porter is under contract beyond the 2026 season, and they have no financial security beyond this year.
The Cowboys are 3-4 after the Week 7 win, and their defense still has obvious questions. But that’s almost beside the point for Steelers fans right now. The bigger issue is seeing two players who were supposed to matter in Pittsburgh’s next chapter making their mark somewhere else.
The Steelers may sit at 5-2, but they still don’t look like a true contender. Having Pickens and Porter on the roster right now, in a window that feels brief with an aging group around a soon-to-be 43-year-old quarterback, might have been the difference between good and dangerous.
In Other News...
Steelers Receiver Trouble Is Putting Real Pressure On Omar Khan
The NFL trade deadline is creeping closer, and the Steelers are once again weighing whether they need outside help at wide receiver. For Omar Khan, it is a familiar kind of pressure point: Pittsburgh has already spent time trying to reinforce the room, and the search for steady production has only gotten more complicated as injuries have thinned the depth chart.
With the deadline approaching, the urgency has sharpened around a position group that has not given the Steelers the consistency they want. Khan has been aggressive enough to explore upgrades, but the window to land one is closing fast, and the next move could say a lot about how he plans to handle a roster hole that has become hard to ignore. [Read more 🡒]
Steelers QB Search Just Got More Complicated With Dante Moore
Dante Moore had started to look like one of the more intriguing quarterback names to follow for Pittsburghs long-range planning, especially after a clean opening stretch at Oregon. In four games, he threw nine touchdowns without an interception, giving the Steelers another prospect to track as they think ahead to the 2027 NFL Draft and continue sorting through the future of the position.
Now the evaluation gets trickier. Moore will miss the rest of Oregons season because of a concussion, and any absence at this stage complicates how teams view a young quarterback who had been building momentum early. For Pittsburgh, it adds another layer of uncertainty to a process that already hinges on projection, health and whether Moore ultimately decides to enter the draft at all. [Read more 🡒]
Deshaun Watson Just Made Steelers-Browns A Lot More Complicated
Deshaun Watsons early-season rebound has changed the tone around Cleveland in a hurry, and that matters plenty for the Steelers, who know how quickly the AFC North can shift when the Browns have stability at quarterback. Through seven games, Watson has helped push Cleveland to a 5-2 start while throwing for 1,482 yards with seven touchdowns and three interceptions, a line that looks a lot different from the uncertainty that surrounded him entering the season.
Ian Rapoport recently suggested Watson has done enough to put himself in the mix to stay under center beyond 2026 if he stays healthy, which is a meaningful step for a Browns team still sorting out its future. Still, the discussion has not reached the point of locking him in as the long-term answer, and that gray area is where this gets interesting for Pittsburgh, because a division rival with a resurgent quarterback can complicate everything from the standings to the offseason conversation. [Read more 🡒]