Former Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin always said he wanted volunteers and not hostages. It turns out general manager Omar Khan and current head coach Mike McCarthy feel the same way with the Joey Porter Jr. trade news that broke just after 11:30 P.M. Wednesday.
The Steelers acquired a 2028 2nd-round pick and a 2027 6th-round pick from the Dallas Cowboys, a team that also acquired Broderick Jones within the last six weeks. While fans will be frustrated by the move, this decision gives both sides a much-needed fresh start.
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It was obvious a trade was the only way to resolve this saga, despite multiple days when Porter Jr. claimed he would play for the Steelers when healthy. Clearly, that was nothing more than a facade to get reporters to stop talking about him and shift the energy to another topic.
Let’s make one thing clear: the Steelers aren’t innocent in this mess. Khan and McCarthy chose to prioritize extensions for Keanu Benton, Nick Herbig and Darnell Washington before focusing on Porter Jr. That, in turn, handicapped the salary cap for his extension. However, Porter Jr. chose to let those decisions lead to his downfall in Pittsburgh.
The former Penn State cornerback could have very easily played this season to prove his worth and then set a deadline of the NFL Draft for the team to come to an agreement before he would wish to be traded. Instead, Porter Jr. went down the Le’Veon Bell and Jalen Ramsey path.
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If you remember, Ramsey pulled the same stunt when he wanted to be traded away from the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2019. He was inevitably shipped off to the Los Angeles Rams before bouncing to the Miami Dolphins just a few seasons later.
It’s not confirmed that Ramsey influenced Porter Jr., but it also doesn’t take rocket science to put two and two together to get four.
At the end of the day, Porter Jr. dug his own grave in Pittsburgh. He and his agent chose for it to end this way, and there’s no debate about that. Before you start screaming about Porter Jr. not wanting to play this season and risk injury, that argument in itself is a joke.
Think about it this way: if last season was a contract year for Patrick Mahomes when he tore his ACL, he still would have gotten a significant contract in the offseason. The same would apply for Porter Jr., especially when ACL recovery time has been reduced significantly in the last 5-10 years due to modern medicine.
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The most ironic part about this trade is that the Cowboys aren’t even going to offer Porter Jr. a contract extension. Multiple reports have indicated that Porter Jr. won’t get an extension right away. Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones, despite being desperate for a Super Bowl, wants to see how Porter Jr. plays before deciding if a contract extension is justified.
This decision should tell Steelers fans everything about how the league feels about Porter Jr. Christian Gonzalez would’ve been paid right away, as would Patrick Surtain. Porter Jr. not getting his money from the beginning shows the other 31 general managers view Porter Jr. similarly to how Khan and the Steelers did.
Porter Jr. will quickly realize the grass isn’t always greener when requesting a trade. The Cowboys’ defense was one of the worst in the NFL last year, and things weren’t much better through the opening three weeks of this year. That was what led to the trade, and Dallas still may not even win the division.
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The Philadelphia Eagles still seem to be the team to beat in the NFC East, so that would push the Cowboys down to a wildcard team at best. The odds of missing the playoffs or losing in the first round are still very high. Porter Jr. isn’t going to completely turn things around by himself, even if his back “injury” heals before Sunday’s game.
That’s not to say that the Steelers are Super Bowl contenders themselves. They’re far from it, and wouldn’t have gotten to that point even with Porter Jr. He was quick to try and find an escape route, but his first home may have been the best place for him. It’s anyone’s guess how the rest of his career unfolds with his diva mentality.
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Main Photo Courtesy of Barry Reeger – Imagn Images
