The Dallas Cowboys made another marquee trade to bolster their defense, trading star cornerback Joey Porter Jr. from the Pittsburgh Steelers to give Christian Parker a true alpha CB who can grow with this young defense.
The Cowboys are sending a 2028 second-round pick and a 2027 sixth-rounder to Pittsburgh,which is a great deal for Dallas to fill a major need. But the more alarming development is that Jerry Jones is repeating the same thing he did with George Pickens.
Per NFL insider Jordan Schultz, the Cowboys won't immediately extend Porter. Instead, they plan to take the same approach they did with Pickens: let him play out the season and address his contract when the time comes. That's a risky approach for a team that gave up significant draft capital to acquire him.
The similarities to the Pickens situation are uncanny. Giving up a Day 2 draft pick to acquire a young star from the Steelers just to not immediately extend him. It's a story we've seen play out before, and if Porter plays well, this move becomes even riskier.
The Dallas Cowboys are waiting to sign Joey Porter Jr. to a contract extension
We have to remember that Christian Parker is a former DBs coach, and he'll certainly know how to get the most out of Porter's skill set after he logged a career-high 14 pass breakups last year. And if he breaks out even further or still looks like a solid CB1, waiting to extend him will only raise his price tag.
Pickens' price undeniably went up after he finished as a second-team All-Pro, but the Cowboys chose not to extend him because they want him to prove last year wasn't an aberration. That is a diligent approach given Pickens' reputation before he arrived in Dallas. Of course, that runs the risk of his price soaring even higher if he has another great campaign.
Porter Jr. engaged in a contract stalemate with the Steelers (which is why he's missed the first three games), so who's to say he won't do the same thing in Dallas? The Cowboys just enjoyed one of their most drama-free offseasons in years. You should not want to undo that now.
It remains to be seen what the Cowboys' intent for doing this deal was. Are they doing it they want to extend him long-term after the season, or is this just a rental? Because if so, allowing him to get a handsome deal elsewhere on the market and land a third-round comp pick is just a pointless move.
That would essentially be trading a second-round pick for a third-rounder. The Cowboys are in a situation where they need to pick a direction, because Jerry Jones can't keep playing the middle. This isn't Survivor.
Maybe Porter has a transformative impact on this defense and leaves Dallas with no choice but to pay him. Would that be the worst thing? Not exactly, but it does run the risk of having to offer him a bigger contract than they would have if the extension were part of the trade.
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