The Seattle Seahawks spent the weeks before the season trying to patch up a cornerback group that already looked shaky, and now they may have watched the fix walk right past them.
Joey Porter Jr., who wanted out of the Pittsburgh Steelers, was traded on Wednesday to the Dallas Cowboys. Seattle can’t get in on that deal now, but the price Dallas paid was the kind the Seahawks could have matched without much trouble: a 2027 sixth-round pick and a 2028 second-rounder. With Seattle projected to hold as many as 11 picks, possibly 12, in next year’s draft alone, that was squarely in range.
The Seahawks clearly knew they had a problem at corner before the season even kicked off. Why else bring in Trevon Diggs and Terrion Arnold in the days before final roster cuts? Mike Macdonald and John Schneider took a long look at the secondary during camp and had to know more help was needed.
That concern has only grown through the first few games of 2026. Seattle’s safeties were a mess in Week 3’s loss to the Washington Commanders, though that group at least had an excuse: Julian Love and Ty Okada were out injured, leaving two players who started the season on the practice squad to fill in.
At corner, though, the problems have been more persistent. Nehemiah Pritchett has been the bright spot, and Seattle needs him to keep playing at his best level as a pro because the rest of the room has been uneven. Josh Jobe, the presumed CB1, has not looked like a top-end starter.
Washington picked on him, especially Terry McLaurin. Jobe has now given up a touchdown pass in each of the last two games and is on pace to allow 11 scores over the season.
In those two games, he has also surrendered a quarterback rating of at least 112.5 when targeted. Against Washington’s backup quarterback in Week 3, that number climbed to 152.1.
According to Pro Football Focus, Jobe is 55th among all cornerbacks this season, while Pritchett sits 11th. Pritchett may have truly turned a corner, but he is also playing better than he ever has, and that kind of surge is hard to bank on lasting forever.
Unlike safety, where reinforcements should return from injury, cornerback is a different story for Seattle. What the Seahawks have now is probably what they’re getting unless Arnold or Diggs suddenly become steady answers, and neither has recently shown the kind of consistent brilliance Seattle would need.
That is why Porter would have made so much sense. He has not played in 2026 because of an “injury,” but ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that he could suit up for Dallas as soon as Week 4, which makes the situation look a lot less severe. He also carries a career quarterback rating allowed of just 71.5.
Would he have helped Seattle this season? Almost certainly. And because the Seahawks had the draft capital to make it happen, passing on Porter could end up looking like a miss John Schneider wishes he had never made.
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