The Dallas Cowboys made another big move on Wednesday evening, trading for Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Joey Porter Jr.
Dallas and Pittsburgh agreed to a trade centered on the young cornerback late on Wednesday evening. The Cowboys will be sending Pittsburgh a sixth round pick in 2027 and a second round pick in 2028 in exchange for the young cornerback, who had a contract dispute with the Steelers.
It’s another all-in move for Jerry Jones, who is backing up his offseason talk of being a believer in this team, despite a 1-2 start.
But the Cowboys could soon face some major contract “dilemmas.”
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The Cowboys will have several free agents this offseason, including star wide receiver George Pickens and cornerback Joey Porter Jr.
And you can’t hit both of them with the franchise tag.
Cowboys will have contracts ‘dilemma’
Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk detailed the situation.
“The Cowboys tagged Pickens in 2026, at a franchise tender of $27.298 million. With the market at the position now north of $42 million, that’s a great bargain for Dallas. It’s so good that they could tag him again in 2027, at $32.758 million,” he reported.
“They also could tag cornerback Joey Porter Jr., at a number that will be far below the top of the market at the position.
“But here’s the catch. They can’t tag both. Every team has one — and only one — to use per year.”
If Porter Jr. agrees to a big deal with another team in free agency, the Cowboys would get a third round compensatory pick. So, they would essentially be renting Porter at the cost of dropping a few dozen spots in the draft, which is fairly easy to stomach.
Still, it’ll be an interesting offseason in Dallas, as always.
