Jerry Jones said he’d be keeping an eye on the trade market, and it didn’t take him long to make a call. The Dallas Cowboys have spent the first three weeks patching their secondary, with Cobie Durant and Shavon Revel both dealing with injuries, and a loss to the Ravens in Week 3 only made the need clearer. Now Dallas has gone out and landed a cornerback who hasn’t played a snap this season.

“BREAKING: #Steelers are trading CB Joey Porter Jr. to the #Cowboys, per sources,” Jordan Schultz posted on X.

The Cowboys have made their move. Dallas has agreed to terms with the Pittsburgh Steelers on a trade for cornerback Joey Porter Jr., and the price, per ESPN, is a 2028 second-round pick and a 2027 sixth-round pick headed to Pittsburgh.

However, Porter hasn’t played yet this season. The Steelers listed him on the physically unable to perform list with a back injury, though plenty of people around the league believed his contract situation had a lot to do with his absence.

He’s heading into the final year of his rookie deal and spent the offseason negotiating with Pittsburgh, but the two sides couldn’t get anything done before the team’s organizational deadline, which falls at the start of the season.

Now he lands in Dallas with a real shot at becoming the team’s new No. 1 cornerback, which is exactly the kind of role he was hoping for.

The numbers back that up. Porter was a second-round pick out of Penn State in 2023. He has appeared in 47 career games and started 41 of them, collecting 165 tackles, 31 pass breakups, and three interceptions along the way. Last year alone, he played 14 games and finished with 52 total tackles, one sack, one interception, and 14 passes defended.

This deal didn’t come out of nowhere, either. After the Week 3 loss to the Ravens, Jerry Jones said on his Tuesday radio show that Dallas was monitoring the trade market for defensive help.

“I’d just say we’re right on top of it,” Jones said. “We’re very aware of the moving parts out here; we should be. And communication is a big part of that. It’s a big part of that. Communication at all levels, at my level, at Stephen’s level, and the scout’s level. We all have contacts, and this is a time when you really can have discussions that could be productive. The answer to your question is yes, there’s conversations going on.”

Those conversations have now led to Porter.

It’s also becoming a familiar partnership. This is the third trade the Cowboys and Steelers have worked out since May of 2025.

The first was the George Pickens deal, which sent a third-round pick to Pittsburgh ahead of the 2026 season. In August, Dallas brought in offensive tackle Broderick Jones and a fourth-round pick in exchange for a third and a sixth-round pick.

The next question is how quickly Porter can get on the field. It’s still unclear whether he’ll be ready for Dallas’ Week 4 matchup against the Texans on Sunday at NRG Stadium.

Injuries hit Cowboys secondary hard before Week 4

The timing of this move makes a lot of sense. Dallas has dealt with some early inconsistency under new defensive coordinator Christian Parker, and the injuries have stacked up on top of that, especially at cornerback and safety.

At corner, Cobie Durant has been bothered by a hamstring issue, while Shavon Revel hurt his knee in the 34-31 loss to Baltimore in Brazil and has also been nursing an ankle problem.

Coach Brian Schottenheimer sounded optimistic that Revel could play against Houston, though the second-year player did not practice to start the week.

Porter gives the Cowboys an experienced, high-level starter to line up opposite DaRon Bland.

Safety has been just as rough. On Wednesday, Dallas moved safety Jalen Thompson (hamstring) and defensive tackle Jonathan Bullard (calf) to injured reserve with a designation to return, meaning both will miss at least four games.

Thompson went down with a hamstring, while P.J. Locke was already out with a torn plantar fascia. Both were offseason additions meant to retool the position, and Locke is now on injured reserve too.

Apart from these, there is a bit of good news. Malik Hooker has missed two games with a forearm fracture, but he was a limited participant in practice Wednesday, and the Cowboys, now sitting at 1-2, hope he can return Sunday against the winless Texans.

The team also signed defensive tackle Elijah Garcia from the practice squad to the 53-man roster.

With so many injuries and a big new addition, it’s hard to say what version of this defense shows up against Houston.