Joey Porter Jr. is headed to the Dallas Cowboys.The Pittsburgh Steelers are finalizing a trade to send their starting cornerback to the Cowboys, according to multiple reports. The Ringer’s Tom Pelissero first reported the pending trade.Rumors about a potential Porter trade started ramping up after Week 1, when the cornerback was ruled out of the Steelers’ season-opening win over the Atlanta Falcons. Steelers head coach Mike McCarthy stated that a lingering back injury was the reason Porter was held out, though it was also clear throughout training camp that Porter was seeking a contract extension.McCarthy told reporters in late August that Porter and the Steelers were at an “impasse” in contract negotiations, and the two sides ultimately couldn’t reach a deal before the season. That’s a notable deadline for Pittsburgh, a team that traditionally does not negotiate contracts once the regular season starts. Porter was entering the final season of his rookie contract in 2026.Now it appears as though Porter has played his last snap with the Steelers. Here’s what we know about the reported trade:JOEY PORTER JR: Steelers’ Mike McCarthy says injury, not contract, kept CB out of Week 1Joey Porter Jr. injury updatePorter missed the preseason with the Steelers while dealing with a back injury that flared up at the start of training camp. According to the team, that back injury is also why the starting cornerback missed Pittsburgh’s season-opening win against the Falcons. McCarthy said after the game that Porter was close to a return.”I would clearly still put him finishing up the ramp-up stage as far as where he is,” McCarthy said. “We sat down and talked about it. Talk about the plan for next week. He’s definitely ready to do more. So we’ll see how that goes. He’ll do something tomorrow, and then hopefully we can take his snaps up at Wednesday’s practice.”Always in the background of Porter’s injury news is talk of his contract, which is due to expire after this season. When cornerback Jalen Ramsey returned to practice on Aug. 24 after dealing with his own injury, he told reporters he was “overly in Joey’s corner.” That was the same day McCarthy spoke of an “impasse” in negotiations.Before Week 1, Porter was a limited participant in practice every day and had a “questionable” designation for the game. After Porter was declared inactive for the Steelers’ Week 1 game, Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that the cornerback was “deemed healthy enough to play” before the game. Porter has not played a snap this season. Despite participating fully in back-to-back walk-throughs this week, the 26-year-old was ruled out earlier Wednesday for the Steelers’ Week 4 game against the Cleveland Browns on Thursday night.JOEY PORTER JR CONTRACT: Coach Mike McCarthy says CB, Steelers at ‘impasse’Joey Porter Jr. contract detailsTerm: Four yearsTotal value: $9.62 millionAverage annual value (AAV): $2.4 millionGuaranteed money: $8.99 millionDespite being the
Content Source: Yahoo News
Image Credit: Getty Images
All rights to the news content and images belong to their respective copyright owners.