Form the beginning of the Dallas Cowboys‘ Joey Porter Jr. trade experiment that kicked in this week when the deal with the Steelers was consummated, there was always going to be the possibility that the star corner lands as a short-term rental. That would help explain why the team was so desperate to get him on the field on Sunday in Week 4 against the Texans–they are dead set on getting everything they can out of Porter while they have him under contract.
The Cowboys gave up a sixth-rounder in 2027 and a second-rounder in 2028, and if Porter only plays this year, then signs a major contract elsewhere in free agency, the team has a chance to recoup some of its sunk costs by getting back a third-round compensatory pick. That assurance made acquiring Porter a much less risky proposition.
Cowboys Could Make Push in Free Agency
That’s not to say the Cowboys would not angle to keep Porter Jr. when he becomes a free agent next winter–or that they would not pull the same move they did on George Pickens this winter, when they hit him with the one-year franchise tag. Porter could wind up in the same boat, looking for a long-term deal but stuck with little option but to take the Cowboys’ one-year offer.
But the Cowboys should be encouraged about Porter’s future with the team. That’s because he might not have been making the outrageous $30 million-per-year-plus demands from the Steelers that some suggested he was making. According to a report from ESPN/NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport, the trouble between Pittsburgh and Porter was not just dollars, it was guarantees.
$28 Million For Joey Porter Jr.
Rapoport reported that the Steelers’ usual way of handling contracts–on a year-by-year basis, with no guaranteed money past the immediate season–was not going to cut it for Porter, who bucked Pittsburgh tradition and sought longer, more guaranteed payday. We don’t know how far the Cowboys would go, financially, to keep Porter in the fold. But we do know they do not have the same year-by-year policy the Steelers have.
Wrote Rapoport: “As for why the trade happened, sources pointed to the Steelers’ general philosophy of avoiding second-year guarantees as the main reason. Pittsburgh did offer Porter a contract that, with some work, could have been acceptable to keep him with the team. The Steelers presented Porter with a deal that reached $28 million in average annual value — a pitch that would have been the starting point for a deal to be consummated.”
But the Steelers gave exceptions to the no-guarantee rule to stars TJ Watt and DK Metcalf, and Porter wanted the same. The Steelers would not give it to him, and thus, he asked out. And the Cowboys were there to scoop him up.
Good News for Cowboys
This does count as good news for the Cowboys, because there was a widespread assumption floating in NFL circles that the problem for Porter would be that he is asking too much, contract-wise, of the team. But a deal starting at $28 million is right in line with Porter’s market value, which is reported at $27.4 million per year per Spotrac.
The issue was not the up-front price, but the length of the team and the security that would bring. That’s promising for the Cowboys if they decided they want to keep Porter.
Wrote Rapoport: “Porter, who will now play out his rookie deal in Dallas, wanted the security of a long-term contract rather than a large one-year payment. By the time this season started — with Porter still ramping up after sitting out training camp — he knew he would have been unlikely to play for Pittsburgh without a new contract.”
Cowboys’ Joey Porter Jr. Future Gets Boost With New Report