FRISCO, Texas -- When the week began, Joey Porter Jr. thought he would be playing Thursday night for the Pittsburgh Steelers against the Cleveland Browns. Now, he hopes to make his Dallas Cowboys debut Sunday against the Houston Texans.
"We're just trying to take things day by day," Porter said after his first practice in Dallas, "and if everything looks good, then we should be out there."
Porter was at the movie theater watching Brad Pitt's "Heart of the Beast" when he got word of the trade. The Cowboys gave up a 2027 sixth-round pick and a 2028 second-rounder to acquire Porter, marking the third deal the organizations have made since May 2025 (George Pickens, Broderick Jones).
Early Thursday morning, he was on a plane to join his new team, ending his run with the Steelers, who drafted him in the second round of the 2023 draft.
Porter was hoping for an extension with the Steelers, and the saga lasted throughout the offseason and into training camp while he dealt with a back injury. Porter said it was more his call not to play in against the Browns, but added that his back was "feeling better."
Porter is not listed on the Cowboys' injury report.
"It was a hard process; a lot of ups and downs," Porter said. "Definitely felt disrespected, definitely felt undervalued. But that's the old news now. That's how I look at it. I'm on to new beginnings, new chapters. And like I said, I'm a Cowboy. I'm in Dallas, so I'm happy about that."
Porter will have to wait for a possible extension from the Cowboys, too. Still, he said he would be open to finishing his career in Dallas.
"I'm down with it if they are. I want to finish my career here," Porter said. "So hopefully, I just perform like how I know how to perform and do what I do, and I'm going to let everything take care of the rest."
Through three games, the Cowboys are 25th in points allowed (27.3) and 30th in yards (387). The Cowboys are one of four teams without an interception.
With Cobie Durant (hamstring) expected to miss his second game and Shavon Revel Jr. not practicing much this week because of knee and ankle issues, the Cowboys almost need to have Porter immediately.
"This is more about you get a chance to get a young corner that's got elite cover skills that can come in and add to a group that's depleted right now with injuries is always good," coach Brian Schottenheimer said. "But I think change of scenery is good."
It worked for Pickens, who had career highs in catches (93), yards (1,429) and touchdowns (nine) last season with the Cowboys.
Defensive coordinator Christian Parker used the term "boundary eraser" in his evaluation of Porter when he came out of Penn State. Though Porter has a reputation for his man-to-man skills, Parker said he saw him do enough work with the Steelers to know it won't be a difficult adjustment to the scheme. Parker said even if the Cowboys are in zone, they have some man principles.
"When you have guys who can erase one-on-one matchups on the backside, then you can do different things to manipulate coverage," Parker said. "You can add plus ones in different areas of the field. You can add plus ones in run defense. You don't want to put guys on the island the whole game, but you can definitely kind of move some pieces around and make other things better."
Porter has just three career interceptions, but since 2023, he is ranked 13th among defensive backs when targeted as the nearest defender, allowing just a 56% completion rate, according to Next Gen Stats. He has also committed the most penalties by a defender in that span (36, including 14 pass interference flags).
"The most important thing is not letting the guy that's getting targeted catch the football. The next step is catching it yourself," Parker said. "So, we're going to get him in the building and onboard him and see where he's at with those things. We won't be the first coaches that have tried to improve those things with him, but he does a lot of things at a high level that'll give us a chance to improve that."
Porter said creating turnovers is his next step.
"I think I've shown that I could take wide receivers out the game," he said. "Now, I just want my ball production to be up, and I'm going to strive for that."
The Cowboys also hope the addition of Porter helps their pass rush, which has accounted for just two sacks in three games, by forcing quarterbacks to hold the ball longer.
"I think rushing [and] coverage are always married together," Parker said. "There's coverage sacks; there's also quick wins. So, they all benefit each other. If you have a premium rusher, of course that helps the coverage. If you have a premium coverage, that helps the rush."
