The Pittsburgh Steelers, ahead of their Thursday Night Football matchup against the Cleveland Browns in Week 4, traded away Joey Porter Jr. to the Dallas Cowboys.
In exchange for Porter, the Steelers got a 2027 sixth-round pick and a 2028 second-round pick. While it’s not a horrible return for a cornerback in the final year of his rookie deal, the Steelers likely could’ve done better.
ESPN’s Ben Solak at least believes so, as he gave the Steelers a very lackluster C+ grade for this trade. The reasons for the lower grade can be attributed to the underwhelming return, how the Steelers handled this Porter issue, and how frustrating this all was.
Steelers get C+ grade for lackluster Joey Porter Jr. trade
“It’s frustrating that GM Omar Khan invested more in third-contract players like Jalen Ramsey and T.J. Watt over a younger, second-contract player like Porter,” Solak writes. “… They could have — and should have — gotten at least a first-round pick by playing this differently and dealing Porter in the spring or earlier in the summer.”
The Steelers opted to trade away Porter instead of signing him to a long-term extension. With their policy of not doing mid-season contract extensions, this trade was the most likely outcome.
But if the Steelers were always going to be trading Porter, they really should’ve moved him over the offseason, when plenty of teams were likely willing to spend more to land him.
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The Kansas City Chiefs got a first-round pick and more for Trent McDuffie. While McDuffie might be the better cornerback, the Steelers would likely have had a real chance of landing a first-rounder for Porter this offseason.
The underwhelming return is a big reason why the Steelers got a C+ grade from Solak for this trade. Adding in the frustrating story behind this situation, it makes sense why their trade grade was so low.
While getting a second-round pick and more back for Porter isn’t a horrible trade, it’s just not a very exciting one, especially since that second-round pick is in the 2028 NFL Draft.
This whole situation is far from ideal, which is why Solak handed the Steelers such a lackluster grade for this trade. It’s not the end of the world, but it’s not moving the needle positively for this Steelers franchise. At least, not right now.
