After a lengthy and contentious contract standoff and a lingering back issue, Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Joey Porter Jr. is going to the Dallas Cowboys.
The Steelers on Wednesday night agreed to trade Porter to the Cowboys for a 2027 sixth-round pick and a 2028 second-rounder, sources told ESPN.
The trade marks the end of a monthslong saga that stretched throughout the Steelers' offseason as Porter, one of the team's 2023 second-round picks, awaited an extension and was sidelined by a back injury.
The heart of the dispute was the guaranteed money within the contract's structure, sources told ESPN, and the sides never made meaningful progress on agreeing to terms despite talks as late as hours before kickoff of the Steelers' Week 1 game against the Atlanta Falcons. The Steelers then stopped talks because they don't negotiate during the regular season as a longstanding organizational principle.