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“Aggressive” has been Jerry Jones’ word for the Dallas Cowboys since February. He used it at the scouting combine, and The Athletic’s Jourdan Rodrigue wrote this week that the owner kept restating it as the year went on. Late Wednesday he acted on it, and Dallas landed cornerback Joey Porter Jr. from Pittsburgh.
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“I could see us being aggressive in free agency,” Jones said in Indianapolis on Feb. 27, according to the team’s website. Seven months later, the price was a 2028 second-round pick and a 2027 sixth-rounder, the Cowboys announced.
Why the Cowboys needed Joey Porter Jr. now
Rodrigue likes the offense, which she has at No. 3 in EPA per play. The defense is third worst in EPA per play and second worst in success rate in her NFL Team Utility Tiers. She wrote that the goal for that unit this season was to climb from worst to middling, and that Porter should help the secondary. Dak Prescott has seven touchdown passes and Dallas has scored 88 points, but it lost 34-31 to Baltimore in Week 3.
The basic numbers agree. The 1-2 Cowboys have allowed 82 points, per Pro Football Reference. They rank 30th in total defense and have no interceptions, NFL.com noted. Cornerbacks Cobie Durant (hamstring) and Shavon Revel Jr. (knee/ankle) missed Wednesday’s practice.
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Porter, 26, has 41 starts, 31 pass breakups and three interceptions in three seasons. He allowed 35 catches on 66 targets and no touchdowns in 2025, according to Next Gen Stats figures the team cited. He has not played this season and is in the last year of his rookie deal, and Dallas will not extend him yet. It is the third trade between the teams since May 2025, a run that started with George Pickens.
“Jerry and I have talked from the very beginning: we are in a win-now mindset. That doesn’t change,” coach Brian Schottenheimer said, according to the Dallas Morning News. Porter could make his debut Sunday at Houston in what Schottenheimer called a specific package. The cornerback passed his physical Thursday and practiced that day. “I’m a lockdown player at the end of the day,” Porter said.
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This story was originally published October 3, 2026 at 6:30 AM.