FRISCO, Texas -- Joey Porter Jr. was in the middle of watching the new Brad Pitt movie at 11:30 p.m. Wednesday night when his phone lit up. It was a text from his agent letting him know his contract stalemate with the Pittsburgh Steelers was over and that he was being traded to the Dallas Cowboys in exchange for a 2027 sixth-round pick and a 2028 second-round pick.
I'm not even going to lie. I was actually at the movies when I got the call, so I had to leave the movies and went home. But I mean, I was blessed.
I was excited," Porter Jr. said after his first Cowboys practice on Thursday. "I called my people, and they were excited with me. So new chapter, new beginnings, and I'm ready." How is it that the Cowboys were able to acquire Porter Jr. right after he led the NFL in passer rating against as the primary defender in coverage in 2025, among 128 players with at least 60 pass attempts thrown their way, with a 49.1 passer rating allowed?
He wasn't feeling the love from the franchise that drafted him with the first pick of the second round in the 2023 NFL Draft. Porter Jr., whose 48.1% career completion percentage allowed ranks as the fourth-lowest in the NFL since he entered the league in 2023 among those with at least 150 passes thrown their way, is in the final year of his rookie deal in 2026. Having produced the way he has through his first three seasons, he felt he earned a long-term contract with the Steelers.
Negotiations broke down, which happened to coincide with Porter Jr.'s back flaring up and him missing the first three games of the 2026 season. He said he did everything he "could possibly do at the time" that the Steelers coaches and trainers asked him to do, from being on the field to doing drills off to the side. Porter Jr. felt like he had a chance to play in the Steelers' "Thursday Night Football" matchup against the Cleveland Browns at the beginning of the week before Pittsburgh ruled him out on Wednesday.
He said the decision for him not to play was more on his end. In Dallas, he's feeling valued after great chats with the Cowboys coaching staff, so he's ready to play without the security of a long-term deal to prove his worth to his new team. As for his back, it is "feeling better." "Definitely, definitely.
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