Report: Steelers Benefitted From Cowboys' Strange Bidding War To Conclude Joey Porter Jr Saga

The Pittsburgh Steelers finally came to the end of the Joey Porter Jr. saga; although, it was not the outcome they wanted. After yet another "back flare-up," they traded him to the Dallas Cowboys for a 2028 second-round pick and a conditional 2027 sixth-round pick that will most likely get transferred to Pittsburgh. As rough as it is to deal away your top cornerback, the move seemed inevitable. The value is underwhelming for Steeler Nation, but it's still better than losing him for nothing in the long run. 

If the Steelers let him walk in free agency, they most they could have gotten back in return was a late 2028 third-round compensatory pick, depending on what he signed for elsewhere. General Manager Omar Khan was trying to find a team that would give up more than that. It was definitely a struggle, considering his antics and status as a pending free agent.

Even with that underwhelming deal, there are concerns about the Cowboys' decision making. In his latest column on The Athletic, insider Jonathan Jones explained what league sources have told him about this trade.

"Many around the league believed Dallas overpaid, based largely on the belief that teams don’t view Porter as a top-tier corner..." Jones wrote. "'They were bidding against themselves for Porter,' says one executive with a team that was erroneously tied to trading for the cornerback."

There were a few teams interested in Porter, but they clearly were not ready to give up a second-round pick in exchange for him. One team definitely didn't want to do it, as the unnamed executive told Jones, but Dallas has always had a flare for the dramatic deals. With how rough its defense has been, it could definitely use a quality cornerback to come in and take away other teams' top receivers.

At the very least, it seemed like the Steelers got the absolute best value that they could have gotten for Porter amid the "back injuries" and the distraction he was causing. When Defensive Coordinator Patrick Graham has to make multiple game plans depending on if he will play or not for Pittsburgh, it is clear that him still lingering around the team was a negative. 

It was very clear that the Steelers needed to trade Porter away as soon as possible to keep him from hurting the team by not playing. That kind of desperation usually drives down the price of a potential trade, and that's clearly what the NFL thought. It doesn't help that he as a player is devalued by the league despite his great play in 2025 and sudden drop in penalties.

Steelers Also Potentially Capitalized On Desperation

Despite all of this, the Cowboys' overpayment and bidding war has a clear reason: their division rival. The New York Giants were potentially also in the mix for Porter, and Dallas did not want to allow them to acquire a player that could potentially lock down CeeDee Lamb and/or George Pickens for a low price. It's unclear what New York might have offered to the Steelers, but based on everything mentioned, it was likely a 2028 third-round pick.

Even though the Giants are sitting atop the NFC East heading into Week 4, that is not expected to be the case for very long due to Jaxson Dart suffering a potential season-ending injury. The Steelers are expecting New York's pick to be fairly high. If they did offer a third-round pick, the Cowboys would not be able to give the same offer due to being projected to have the worse pick.

Ironically, the Steelers used this same logic when trading away Chase Claypool in exchange for the pick that would eventually become Porter. They got the same offer from the Chicago Bears and the Green Bay Packers, and they picked the team that they believed would have the worse record. Khan was right, as the Bears gave up the top pick in the 2023 second round.

What do you think about the Cowboys possibly overpaying for Porter? Let us know on X at @Steelers_ChrisB.

#SteelerNation