The Dallas Cowboys made the biggest move of the young season late Wednesday night, sending a 2027 sixth-round pick and 2028 second-round pick to the Pittsburgh Steelers in exchange for cornerback Joey Porter Jr. Porter has sat out the first three games of the season with what has been described as a back injury, but there has naturally been speculation that his absence was actually related to the contract dispute between Porter and the Steelers. Porter has been looking for an extension that pays him at or near the top of the cornerback market.
Now, it appears that Porter's back injury has suddenly started feeling better. According to ESPN, there is "a chance" Porter could play for the Cowboys on Sunday against the Houston Texans, even though the Steelers already ruled him out for their Thursday night game against division rival Cleveland Browns due to his back injury. The Cowboys desperately need help in the secondary, and they'll get it from Porter whenever he steps on the field.
He's one of the league's top cornerbacks — he tied for ninth in the CBS Sports cornerback rankings this past offseason — and Dallas not only lacks talented corners, but is also dealing with a spate of injuries in the defensive backfield. Starting corner Cobie Durant is injured. So are safeties Malik Hooker, Jalen Thompson and P.J.
Locke, with the latter two placed on injured reserve. Former third-round pick Shavon Revel has been ineffective since his belated debut last year (he tore his ACL in college and missed the start of his rookie campaign) and especially so in relief of Durant this season. Former fifth-rounder Caelen Carson has been a relative non-factor in his career.
As such, whenever he debuts, Porter will presumably slot in across from DaRon Bland on the outside, while Caleb Downs continues playing in the slot. If the Cowboys still have injuries at safety whenever Durant returns to the lineup, they could slide Bland inside and move Downs to the back end of the defense. However they decide to line it up, it's clear that Porter gives the Cowboys a significant upgrade in the defensive backfield whenever he makes it into the field.
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