The NFL world is buzzing with the possibility the Pittsburgh Steelers could trade Joey Porter Jr. after failing to reach an agreement with him on a long-term extension of his rookie contract.
The team has maintained a back injury that’s sidelined the fourth-year cornerback since the start of training camp – and not a holdout – was the reason for Porter's NFL Week 1 absence against the Atlanta Falcons. Coach Mike McCarthy said Porter is in the “ramp-up” stage but expects to see him practice more extensively this week.
“The business part of it, that’s not for me to speak on," McCarthy said.
Porter hasn't spoken publicly about his reason for missing the game. Regardless, team and player did not reach a contract by the Steelers' established deadline
The franchise has a policy of refusing to negotiate deals once the season begins. It’s therefore natural to wonder about potential landing spots in a trade should the team prefer to avoid losing Porter for nothing to free agency this offseason or face a potentially messy attempt to place the franchise tag on him.
Joey Porter Jr. trade value
The problem, from the team’s perspective, is that there aren’t many good reasons to move Porter for anything less than the NFL draft capital necessary to help it trade up to draft a potential future franchise quarterback in 2027.
Aaron Rodgers has stated his intent to retire at the end of 2026, so coach Mike McCarthy and GM Omar Khan will need to move on at the most important position on the field one way or the other. They have young quarterbacks Drew Allar and Will Howard on the roster, but both come with flaws that dropped them to the third and sixth rounds of the draft, respectively. Any return for Porter would likely need to advance the cause of finding a potential future franchise QB meaningfully. It’s the top organizational priority.
Rodgers’ return also puts a premium on competing meaningfully in 2026. External expectations for this team may be modest – BetMGM lists the Steelers as a -145 favorite to miss the playoffs after Week 1. The team, however, fancies itself an annual contender, and that’s the only lens through which it makes sense to invest another season in a quarterback who will turn 43 in December. Dealing Porter would undermine that goal, given his tantalizing production.
Then there’s the matter of Porter’s lack of leverage over the situation. One way or another, the team can easily control his rights into the 2028 offseason. It infamously exercised that prerogative over Le’Veon Bell in 2018, and there’s no reason to believe it would blink here given the manageable rookie contract Porter is currently signed to.
Potential suitors therefore need to come to the table armed with a package to make Khan and McCarthy think. It probably doesn’t need to be the top five or top 10 pick that drafting a top quarterback prospect may require outright. It probably does need to position them to be able to move up if they decide they want to.
That likely limits the opportunities for teams that expect to contend for the Super Bowl. NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport mentioned the Kansas City Chiefs and Detroit Lions on Tuesday, but both teams are the current betting favorites in their respective divisions. There’s a good chance their late second-round picks would not move the needle enough as future trade chips, and even their first rounders may offer limited utility, depending upon how far the Steelers may need to move up to get their guy.
Teams expected to finish within the NFL’s messy middle or closer to its bottom rungs make more sense for that reason.
Joey Porter Jr. trade destinations
The New York Jets could fit that mold beautifully. BetMGM sets the over/under for their regular-season win total at 6.5. And they hold three first-round picks in this draft, giving them multiple possible entry points. They’d also have the money to sign Porter long-term, with more than $90 million in projected cap space for 2027 and beyond, according to OverTheCap.
New Orleans and Dallas are two others to keep an eye on in the coming days and weeks after ESPN's Jeremy Fowler highlighted them. Both have projected win totals in the 7.5 to 8.5 range at the moment, so neither figures to be quite bad enough to risk giving up a premium first-round pick by dealing for Porter. The Saints have some cap space remaining this year and close to $30 million for 2027. The Cowboys have more than $20 million to work with this year but would have to navigate a crunch for next season.
As Fowler pointed out, the Steelers and Cowboys have also gotten recent deals done involving George Pickens and Broderick Jones. They also have McCarthy as connective tissue. He coached Dallas until the end of 2024.
For a creative but unlikely choice, don’t completely overlook the AFC North rival Browns as a possibility. They have two first-round picks in 2027, loads of salary cap space and a top corner in Denzel Ward already in place. The temptation to pair him with Porter to form a lock-down duo on the outside would be hard to resist. It probably won’t happen given the intra-division dynamics at play, but Cleveland at least fits the profile on paper.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Does a Joey Porter Jr. trade make sense? Steelers options amid contract stalemate
