FRISCO, Texas -- The 2026 NFL trade deadline isn't until Nov. 10, but the Dallas Cowboys can already claim to be one of the league's victors thanks to their acquisition of cornerback Joey Porter Jr. Dallas traded a 2027 sixth-round pick and a 2028 second-round pick to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the middle of the night between Sept. 30 and Oct. 1 after contract talks fell apart between the 26-year-old cornerback and Pittsburgh. The Cowboys knew they had to do something after a 1-2 start to their 2026, and the trade for Porter Jr. has gone exactly how owner and general manager Jerry Jones could have hoped for.
Porter Jr. profiles as the NFL's No. 1 cornerback in his three games with Dallas this season. Entering Week 8, Porter Jr. ranks first in the NFL in completion percentage allowed (18.2%), passing yards allowed (10) and pass yards per attempt allowed (0.9) among the 254 players with at least 10 passes thrown their way. The Houston Texans didn't throw toward him once on his 19 coverage snaps in the Cowboys' 34-30 road win.
He then missed "Thursday Night Football" in Week 5 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a game Dallas lost 24-16, because of a stomach bug. Porter Jr. returned to face the Green Bay Packers on "Sunday Night Football" in Week 6, and he didn't allow a catch on the five times Jordan Love threw his way on his 25 coverage snaps in a 23-13 defeat. On "Monday Night Football" against the Philadelphia Eagles, he allowed his first two catches of the year for a total of 10 yards on the six times quarterback Tanner McKee threw Porter Jr.'s way on his 30 coverage snaps.
I love it when we have a player like that who you can just throw on anybody's top guy, and then just say 'if you're going to beat us, beat us with that guy on him.' Lately, he's done a great job," Cowboys wide receiver CeeDee Lamb said after practice on Thursday. "I don't think he's had a completion on him yet. I don't know the facts behind that, but just off what I've seen, when the ball is thrown his way, it somehow ends up on the ground.
Soon enough it's going to be in his hands." Porter Jr. knows exactly how many completions he has surrendered this season: two. Both of them were against the Eagles in Week 7. The first was a five-yard gain to Philadelphia tight end Dallas Goedert for five yards on a third-and-6, and the second one was a five-yard gain to Eagles first-round rookie wide receiver Makai Lemon on a second-and-20.
He is still seething about both of those completions even though it's past the "24-hour rule" NFL players will cite as the amount of time they have to process the previous week's game before moving on to prepare for the upcoming week's game. "Two little 5-yard outs or whatever. I was pissed about it. … As a DB, you never want to give up anything," Porter Jr. said after practice on Wednesday.
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