The Dallas Cowboys are having all kinds of injury problems in the secondary, a year after some mind-numbingly awful performances from the group. The team may be looking to go out and address that through the trade market, in the wake of owner Jerry Jones' flippant claim that there's “There is nothing more dangerous than an old man with money.”
According to a report from ESPN's Adam Schefter, the Cowboys are among the teams who have reached out to the Pittsburgh Steelers to inquire about embattled cornerback Joey Porter Jr. Porter has been out of action the first two weeks of the season, but has recently began ramping up his practice. Out with an alleged back injury, Porter and the Steelers have been at a contract stalemate as the 2023 32nd overall
selection is seeking a deal that nears the top of the CB market.
A handful of teams, including the Dallas Cowboys and Detroit Lions, have begun making inquiries about the availability of Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Joey Porter Jr., league sources told ESPN.https://t.co/dk3zmiJ0EO
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 27, 2026
Of course, it's Sunday morning and ESPN reports love to include the Cowboys' name in rumors that will make the headlines, even if they aren't founded in actual reality.
Over the summer, it was reported that Porter and company were looking for a $30 million per year extension while the Steelers were closer to $20 million. That was before the market continued to expand, with Seattle's Devon Witherspoon clocking in at an average of $33 million and the Patriots Christian Gonzalez getting $35 million per season.
Spotrac has placed Porter's value at $27.4 million per season and projected him to earn a four-year extension worth $110 million in total.
The Cowboys have struggled to stop much on defense, but are only two weeks into Christian Parker's new-look defense. A hamstring injury to free-agent signing Cobie Durant in Week 2 didn't warrant an IR trip, but the team's other boundary corners - DaRon Bland and Shavon Revel - have issues of their own. Bland hasn't looked the same since foot injuries started setting in two seasons ago, and Revel hasn't looked like the first-round talent the team thought they were getting for a steal in 2025's third round thanks to his collegiate ACL tear.
Bland is currently the 10th-highest paid corner in the league after his 2025 extension, making $22.5 million a season. Bland could be traded or released, which would accelarate around $22 million onto the 2027 cap in dead money. He currently stands to count around $19.5 million next year if he's still on the team.
Perhaps a deal in acquiring Porter would send Bland back in the opposite direction, minimizing the amount of draft capital it would take to bring Porter to Dallas.
The Cowboys are already giving one of their two first-round picks, the better of the two, to the New York Jets for last year's deadline acquisition of Quinnen Williams. Porter is in the final year of his rookie deal, and although he was the No. 32 pick, that came in the second round, so there's no fifth-round option in play.
The team would have to award him a new deal, as that's the entire reason he's potentially being shopped. Dallas currently has around $20.8 million in projected year-end cap space, according to Over The Cap.
This article originally appeared on Cowboys Wire: Trade Inquiry: ESPN reports Cowboys looking into Steelers CB valued at $110M
