ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler has floated the San Francisco 49ers as a possible trade destination for Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Joey Porter Jr., but there’s a strong case that San Francisco should stay out of it.
Porter and the Steelers never reached a contract extension before Week 1, and once the season started, Pittsburgh stopped negotiating. Porter’s response has been to refuse to play, turning the situation into one of the more heated standoffs in recent memory. The Steelers are willing to move him, which is what put the 49ers in the conversation in the first place.
But there’s no reporting that San Francisco is actually interested, and it would be hard to justify the move anyway. Porter isn’t just a trade target; he’s also a player who would need a new deal wherever he lands. That’s the heart of the dispute in Pittsburgh, and it wouldn’t disappear just because he changes teams.
The 49ers also have to think about where their money is going. They may have plenty of cap space now, but that space is expected to roll over into next season, when several contracts are set to climb and take up a much bigger share of the books. And if San Francisco does hand out another new contract, the focus is on Osa Odighizuwa.
Then there’s the cost in draft capital. A deal for Porter would likely start at no less than a third-round pick, which is the kind of price that might tempt the 49ers - especially given their track record in that round. They already sent a third-round pick to the Dallas Cowboys for Odighizuwa, and that move spared them from having to make another third-round selection themselves.
Still, the bigger issue is need. The 49ers don’t have a cornerback problem right now. That alone makes the idea of trading for Porter far less compelling than it would have been in other Kyle Shanahan seasons since 2017.
Even Fowler’s framing suggests the move would be about depth, but that misses the larger point. Porter is holding out because he wants a contract, and he’s a talented player. San Francisco does not need to spend draft picks and commit new money to a position that isn’t crying out for help.
For the 49ers, this one doesn’t add up.
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