In a situation similar to their George Pickens acquisition, the Cowboys are now rostering a former Day 2 Steelers draftee in a contract year. The team’s decision to part with two draft picks — including a 2028 second-rounder — for Joey Porter Jr. is not expected to bring an immediate extension, but considering Dallas’ trade package, it stands to reason an extension is in play for the acquiring team.
Jerry Jones confirmed as much Friday. A Cowboys team that extended Quinnen Williams less than a year after acquiring him and franchise-tagged Pickens rather than see his All-Pro 2025 season lead to free agency will certainly consider paying Porter rather than turning him into a rental piece.
“Yes. The answer is yes. And I really don’t need to embellish that,” Jones said, during his latest 105.3 The Fan appearance, on the team’s interest in extending Porter. “On the other hand, by the very nature of the trade, we’re working under a existing contract rather than extended contract. Think about it, think about it hard.
“Let’s get in here and let’s make each other feel a little better about where we are, not a little better, in these guys’ cases it’s a monster amount in their lives, a contract at this level. But by the same token, there’s two to tango here. There’s the team and our being comfortable with making that kind of commitment. What you’re seeing in both those cases is working through a reasonable way to advance the ball. Advance the ball being be an outstanding player as well as having an outstanding contract.”
Jones has been known to drag out contract proceedings — particularly in recent years — and circuitous Cowboys routes to paydays (or trades following talks breaking down) have been a key part of their 2020s story. The team’s Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb and Micah Parsons processes drew considerable scrutiny, and if recent history is a guide, we will see a host of Porter headlines before a deal is done.
The Cowboys have until the legal tampering period begins March 9 to negotiate exclusively with Porter, but the franchise tag deadline (March 3) figures to be a key date to monitor as well. Porter’s contract expires after this season, and it is certainly interesting he will be willing to suit up for the Cowboys after his Steelers stalemate — one that featured a Jalen Ramsey-like escape route with a back injury as cover — led to four missed games.
As I discussed in the latest Trade Rumors Front Office piece, the Cowboys do not abide by the same rigid contractual principles the Steelers use. Porter is now with a team that regularly hands out contracts with guaranteed money post-Year 1 — structures the Steelers rarely approve (and they didn’t appear prepared to bend their rules for Porter this summer). Porter, 26, expressed issues with Pittsburgh’s guarantee structure and effectively forced his way out via the string of “injury” absences.
Dallas will have the option of tagging Porter for roughly $23MM (per OverTheCap) next year, but the team will also need to make a decision on Pickens by that point. A second Pickens tag would cost nearly $33MM. This would be a nice chunk of change for the former Steelers second-rounder, but a second tag would impede the high-end WR2 from exploring the market and landing a lucrative multiyear guarantee.
Pickens concern about a second tag emerged this offseason, and Cowboys COO Stephen Jones voiced an issue with the team having two big-ticket wide receiver extensions — on a payroll featuring Prescott’s monster deal — in the grand scheme. Despite entering the league a year earlier than Porter, Pickens is only in an age-25 season.
The Cowboys were able to pay Amari Cooper without using the tag in 2020; Dallas needed its tag for Prescott that year. Unless the Cowboys are willing to take their chances with Pickens or Porter hitting the open market, they will need to reach an agreement with one of them by the tampering period.
Porter said post-trade he wants to spend the rest of his career in Dallas, and teams do not exactly make a habit of trading second-round picks for rentals. It is still notable the fourth-year cornerback appears ready to play for the Cowboys despite using his back issue as a reason to stage a de facto hold-in with the Steelers, who did not make an extension offer until just before the season.
Porter is not a lock to play against the Texans on Sunday, but he does not carry an injury designation (h/t All City DLLS’ Clarence Hill) heading into Dallas’ Week 4 game. Like Ramsey once traded from the Jaguars to the Rams in 2019, a back issue that had him on the Jacksonville injury report for weeks has magically disappeared following a blockbuster trade. Stephen Jones said during his latest 105.3 The Fan appearance (h/t The Athletic’s Jon Machota) he expects Porter to see time against Houston.
The trade pickup being in uniform will give Dallas a quality reinforcement in a depleted secondary, though it would surprise if the new arrival played extensively in his debut. Porter still will need to prove himself in a new system, but momentum clearly exists for a long-term deal between he and the Cowboys.
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