Joey Porter Jr.’s run in Pittsburgh is over before it ever really got going this season.
The Steelers are finalizing a deal to send the 26-year-old cornerback to the Cowboys, according to The Ringer’s Tom Pelissero late Wednesday night. Porter had not appeared in a game for Pittsburgh this season, and his 2026 campaign effectively ended before it started.
Pittsburgh had already ruled him out for Thursday’s game against the Browns, listing him as “NIR (not injury related)/conditioning/back” on the injury report. Porter missed training camp because of a back injury and had been working his way back into game shape.
Now, that process will continue in Dallas, where Porter is expected to try to make his season debut.
The return for Pittsburgh is a 2028 second-round pick and a 2027 sixth-round pick, per The Athletic’s Jonathan Jones.
Jordan Schultz reported that the Steelers felt they had “no choice” but to move Porter, and he added that the Lions and Giants had also expressed interest in a deal.
The Cowboys, meanwhile, are not planning an immediate extension. Schultz said Dallas will “not be immediately extending” Porter, and the expectation is that he will play first and let the contract “take care of itself from there.”
Porter is in the final year of his rookie deal and is earning just under $4 million. He had pushed for an extension with the Steelers during the offseason, but the two sides couldn’t get a deal done. Pittsburgh general manager Omar Khan also made it clear that contract talks would not continue during the season.
For the year, Porter has played in 14 games and recorded 52 tackles, including 35 solo stops and 17 assists, along with 14 passes defended and one interception.
In Other News...
Browns Coach Just Added Fuel To Steelers' Latest AFC North Grudge Match
Todd Monken has been around the AFC North long enough to know how quickly a passing comment can sharpen a rivalry, and his latest one did exactly that. The Browns head coach, who has seen the Steelers from both Cleveland and Baltimore, took a shot at Pittsburghs veteran defensive core by suggesting it might be time for players like T.J. Watt and Cam Heyward to retire, a remark that lands with extra weight given how many bruising games those names have already created in this division.
For the Steelers, it is the kind of chatter that usually gets remembered long after the pregame noise fades. Watt and Heyward have been central figures in Pittsburghs identity for years, and Monkens familiarity with them only adds another layer to what is already set up as another hard-edged meeting between the Browns and Steelers, with the usual AFC North tension waiting for the first hit to bring it to the surface. [Read more 🡒]
LeVeon Bell Just Turned A Steelers Move Into A Bigger Debate
The Steelers decision to move on from Joey Porter Jr. has already sparked plenty of discussion, but the conversation widened quickly once LeVeon Bell weighed in on social media. Pittsburgh sent the cornerback to Dallas for future draft picks after a contract dispute and a back injury kept him from playing this season, a transaction that would have been debated on its own even before Bell added his criticism.
Bells comments pushed the story beyond football and into a much more familiar kind of scrutiny around the franchise. He alleged unequal treatment of black and white players, a charge that lands differently in light of the Steelers recent extensions for Cam Heyward, Jalen Ramsey and DK Metcalf, and it leaves the team facing a broader question about how this latest move is being interpreted around the league. [Read more 🡒]
Steelers Backfield Issue Puts Thursday Night Focus On One Familiar Name
The Steelers backfield picture got thinner again heading into Thursday night, with Rico Dowdle ruled out for the Week 4 game against the Browns because of a toe injury. Dowdle had already missed practice during the buildup to the matchup, and now he will sit out for a second straight game, leaving Pittsburgh to sort through its options without one of the backs it had been counting on.
That puts the spotlight back on Jaylen Warren, the veteran who is expected to handle most of the workload against Cleveland. For a Steelers offense trying to stay on schedule in a divisional game, Warrens role only grows more important with Dowdle unavailable, and the way Pittsburgh manages the rest of the backfield will be one of the quieter storylines to watch once the lights come on. [Read more 🡒]