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FRISCO, Texas (AP) \u2014<\/p>\nSteelers trade Joey Porter Jr. to Dallas Cowboys for draft picks<\/p>\n
FRISCO, Texas (AP) \u2014<\/p>\n
Joey Porter Jr. says his back feels better, and it was his call to miss the first three games of the season in a contract stalemate that led to the Dallas Cowboys acquiring the cornerback in a trade with the Pittsburgh Steelers.<\/p>\n
Video above: After being traded by the Steelers, Porter says he felt disrespected and undervalued<\/p>\n
Even though he still isn\u2019t getting an extension to his rookie deal, Porter is serious about wanting to make his Dallas debut on Sunday at the Houston Texans, roughly 72 hours after entering his new team headquarters for the first time.<\/p>\n
Whether that happens remains to be seen after the Cowboys gave up a sixth-round pick in the 2027 draft and a second-rounder in 2028 to try to help an injury-filled secondary and more broadly a defense that once again \u2014 at the moment anyway \u2014 is looking like one of the NFL\u2019s worst.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously we have to get him onboarded relative to where\u2019s his conditioning, his body, everything,\u201d Dallas defensive coordinator Christian Parker said Thursday. \u201cEverybody else is three games into this thing, so we got to check his temperature there. Then there\u2019s also the mental tax of learning a new scheme. I\u2019ve been in a bunch of different ones where you sign somebody one week and they\u2019re out there as a first responder on Sunday. And it\u2019s been more of a slow burn. So we\u2019ll see how that goes.\u201d <\/p>\n
Porter was inactive all three games<\/a> this season for the Steelers. The fourth-year pro was said to be dealing with a back issue along with the question about his contract<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cFeeling better,\u201d Porter said with a smile, before later saying, \u201cThat\u2019s more on my end,\u201d when asked how the decision was reached each week on whether he would be active for the Steelers.<\/p>\n The 26-year-old Porter, a second-round pick out of Penn State<\/a> in the 2023 draft, is in the final year of his four-year rookie deal.<\/p>\n The Cowboys agreed to the trade for Porter on Wednesday after earlier putting safety Jalen Thompson (hamstring) on injured reserve with a designation to return. They also signed three defensive backs to their practice squad.<\/p>\n Safety P.J. Locke (torn plantar fascia) was already on injured reserve. He and Thompson were offseason acquisitions by the Cowboys as a part of retooling the secondary.<\/p>\n Frequent trading partners<\/p>\n It\u2019s the second major trade in two years between the Cowboys and Steelers, who also made a lower-profile swap that sent offensive lineman Broderick Jones to Dallas<\/a> in August.<\/p>\n Before the 2025 season, Pittsburgh sent receiver George Pickens to Dallas<\/a> for draft picks. He made the Pro Bowl in his Dallas debut, setting career highs with 93 catches for 1,429 yards and nine touchdowns last season.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/81947edc-eb44-4cc1-a242-7b3802cd5ba0.jpg\")
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