Joey Porter Jr.'s back injury cleared up in record time after Cowboys trade

Cornerback Joey Porter Jr. must've had great lumbar support on the flight from Pittsburgh to Dallas because his seemingly serious back injury is magically healing ahead of Week 4. The 26-year-old was traded from the Steelers to the Cowboys on Thursday for a 2027 sixth-round and 2028 second-round pick.

Porter was ruled out of Thursday's contest between Pittsburgh and the Cleveland Browns, but reports soon emerged after the trade that he's got "a chance" to make his Cowboys debut on Sunday against the Houston Texans. That would be one heck of a recovery if it comes to fruition.

Dallas' defense, especially its secondary, has been notably subpar this season despite offseason efforts by Jerry Jones to acquire multiple players to plug up the holes. The Cowboys sit 30th in the league in yards-per-game surrendered and are operating at a dead even turnover margin (zero interceptions and two fumble recoveries). Porter recorded one pick on 14 passes defended last season and added a sack to his resume too, making him a worthy (if not a little desperate) acquisition.

Joey Porter Jr.'s injury antics got him the trade he always wanted

This wasn't a situation of Pittsburgh trying to move on from an asset that wasn't producing. In fact, the Steelers were actively trying to re-sign Porter this offseason, but the two sides clearly weren't on the same page about how much to value the former second-round selection from 2023. So Porter's back began giving him problems as training camp began and he was held out of the first three games of this season.

It's a rather common tactic for a player, actively not happy to enter a season without a new deal, to suddenly be "injured" so that they don't risk sustaining an actual ailment that would decimate their potential contract or trade value. Porter wanted out after negotiations reached the point of no return and the Steelers decided to cut their losses and oblige.

Dallas became the ideal partner considering cornerback is a position the team has been lacking at since cutting Trevon Diggs last season. The Cowboys have allowed 207.3 passing yards per game so far this season and adding Porter could cut down on that hemorrhaging considerably. Jones probably decided to pull the trigger after Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson needed less than seven seconds to get 27 yards in one play for a game-winning field goal in Brazil.

Receiver Zay Flowers was wide open in the middle of the field, where a guy like Porter probably would've had better vision and shut down ability to prevent the chunk yardage play. He'll get the opportunity to prove such an assumption, perhaps as early as Sunday against Houston.

However, the other side of this coin is the bad example Porter has set (and is following, rather) for other players unhappy with contract negotiations. We saw this in Dallas just last year with Micah Parsons and Jones coming to a sudden halt in talks, then the former first-round pick was flipped to the Green Bay Packers after giving Dallas the silent treatment and being "injured" during preseason. It's a bad cycle that looks to have no good way of being broken, at least for the time being.

Either way, the Steelers offloaded a problem and Dallas added another reason why no excuse will be good enough should it fail to win games and miss the postseason this year. Porter better be the answer Jones is looking for, or his ability to rebuild with younger players, sans a 2027 sixth- and 2028 second-rounder, won't be any easier to address.

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