3 Clear Winners of Steelers' Joey Porter Jr. Trade

The Pittsburgh Steelers finally put an end to the Joey Porter Jr. debacle by trading him to the Dallas Cowboys for a 2028 second-round pick and a conditional 2027 sixth-rounder.

Both sides feel like they were to blame in certain aspects for how things transpired, and now they've parted ways. It's a blow for the Steelers to lose Porter Jr. in terms of their chances to contend for the playoffs this season, but it also never felt as though he was ever going to play for them after not receiving a new deal ahead of Week 1.

There are a handful of winners in Pittsburgh now that the situation has been resolved, however.

Daylen Everette

A third-round pick out of Georgia in the 2026 NFL Draft, Everette was largely set to be blocked over the next handful of seasons with Porter Jr. and Jamel Dean manning the boundary.

A physically-gifted corner who needed some time to refine his technique and become more disciplined in coverage, Everette has already stepped into an elevated role as a rookie, logging 26 snaps in Pittsburgh's Week 3 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals.

Though he's on an upward trajectory and took over Asante Samuel Jr.'s usual spot late in that win against the Bengals, Everette was always going to take a back seat when and if Porter Jr. returned.

Now that he's in Dallas, however, there's a clear path for Everette to remain a key part of the Steelers' secondary and continue to develop while earning valuable reps throughout the remainder of the year.

He's now Pittsburgh's best long-term piece at cornerback too, and he's become all the more indispensable as a result.

Doneiko Slaughter

Slaughter, after a pretty impressive summer, was let go at final roster cuts by the Steelers before later re-signing to the team's practice squad after clearing waivers.

The 24-year-old, whom Pittsburgh signed to a reserve/futures contract in January, had served as the team's weekly practice squad elevation over the first three games of the season while Porter Jr. was inactive.

Because the Steelers had already used all three of his elevations for the year, however, Slaughter had to be signed to the 53-man roster if the team planned on playing him again in 2026.

Pittsburgh clearly values his ability to help out on special teams as well as his versatility in terms of being able to play both on the boundary and in the slot.

With Porter Jr. still occupying a 53-man roster spot, though, there wasn't a clear and easy solution for the Steelers when it came to getting Slaughter back onto the field this year.

Now, with Porter Jr. out of the mix, it feels incredibly likely that he'll join the roster in the near future and have an opportunity to prove himself moving forward.

Sep 27, 2026; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers center Zach Frazier (54) warms up for a game against the Cincinnati Bengals at Acrisure Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Barry Reeger-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Steelers' 2024 Draft Class

Pittsburgh was diligent in handing out extensions to a vast majority of its 2023 draft class, first signing Nick Herbig (four years, $100 million) and Darnell Washington (four years, $42 million) in early June before coming back around to Keeanu Benton (four years, $72 million) during the preseason.

Porter Jr., despite feeling like their top priority amongst that group heading into this past offseason, never got the payday he was looking for from the Steelers.

What not signing him does allow for Pittsburgh, however, is more financial flexibility when it comes to locking up the key players from its 2024 draft class.

Sure, the offensive line endured plenty of struggles over the first two weeks of the campaign, but Troy Fautanu, Mason McCormick and Zach Frazier are all vital to the Steelers' success moving forward.

Fautanu's fifth-year option as a former first-round pick makes it so the organization has more time to sort out his contract situation and doesn't necessarily have to do so next offseason, though having those funds available for whenever the time comes to potentially extend him is huge.

Payton Wilson could theoretically play himself into a new deal with Pittsburgh as well, and maybe Roman Wilson can fall into that same category.

The Steelers won't be able to hold onto all five of their top picks from the 2024 draft, but trading Porter Jr. and not handing him a boatload of money will at the very least boost their odds of retaining their preferences from that group.

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