Quick Hit: Trading for A Key To The Scheme
Dallas makes another big swing at fixing this defense with a piece they have been hunting.
Bob Sturm
23 minutes ago
• Cowboys get: CB Joey Porter Jr.
• Steelers get: 2027 sixth-round pick (their original pick), 2028 second-round pick.
Incredible. I guess they are full-steam ahead on the building this defense.
We heard the rumors, of course. But, we thought this was all happening at such a rate of speed that it was unlikely.
There was a time that Dallas never made the big trade. From Roy Williams in 2009 until Amari Cooper in 2018, they almost never traded for a veteran. They wanted to be all draft, all the time.
Well, that changed.
They traded for Cooper, they traded Cooper away. They traded for Stephon Gilmore, Brandin Cooks, Trey Lance, Jonathan Mingo, George Pickens, traded away Micah Parsons, traded for Quinnen Williams, traded away Osa Odighizuwa, traded for Rashan Gary, Broderick Jones, and now, Joey Porter, Jr. Wow.
This is a big one.
But, we knew that Dallas knew that they couldn’t truly run the Vic Fangio defense without the keys to the Vic Fangio defense.
The three main keys are:
- Dominant DT play that plugs the tackle box and can push the pocket from the inside.
- A special box safety/slot corner hybrid.
- The boundary corner who can cut-off the opponent’s best WR.
Now, yes, they also will need decent edge play and LB’s who have range and ability to read and tackle. Everything matters, but much like running Dean Smith’s offense without Michael Jordan and James Worthy, you can see the issues in assuming the arrangement of the deck chairs can actually keep the Titanic from sinking.
You need the players. You must have the dudes.
Quinyon Mitchell is an incredible corner and the prototype for these teams. He is also going to make so much money you won’t believe it when the Eagles finally get his deal done.
So, I am positive, since he is seen as one of their cheat-codes on the defense that the Cowboys have been eager to find their Quinyon. I think in camp they wanted to believe that Shavon Revel had a chance and they still value him, but there are days when he seems like a guy without that ceiling.
But, where would you find that guy?
We certainly know that there is nothing easy about getting a franchise corner. We have been down this road enough times to know that whether it be Morris Claiborne or Brandon Carr, not everyone is Deion Sanders. Not even close. You can pay a top corner to be a top corner and that still won’t make him a top corner, Daron Bland. If you want quality, sometimes there are reasons Ferrari’s cost what they cost.
They are tough to find and when you find them, they are incredibly expensive. In fact, the New England Patriots just came to terms with Christian Gonzalez on a deal that will pay him about $33.7 million a season for four years ($135 million total). Yes, that is incredible money for a corner and yes, I believe the Cowboys actually wanted him a few weeks ago and were monitoring closely the Patriots move to see if they might end up trading him off for the right deal.
But, when they saw Gonzalez go off the board, the eyes turned to Pittsburgh. They have one of these guys – although you will be hard pressed to find anyone to suggest he is either Quinyon Mitchell or Christian Gonzalez. They are best in class and Porter has some concerns, for sure. But, when he is completely on his game, he is awesome. He has flaws, but they are not enough to get him out of this conversation by any means.
Porter is a dude. I absolutely loved him out of Penn State. He is long, physical, annoying, and imposing. He has remained that way and unlike George Pickens, there are very few Steelers fans who are willing to support the company line this morning. They know that he is a real player and are seemingly upset with their franchise’s decision-making process right now.
Clearly, the Steelers and Cowboys are talking a lot these days as this is the 3rd trade since Schottenheimer has been hired and each has sent a former Steelers key asset to the Cowboys for a future pick.
Porter is in the final year of his rookie deal and will need a huge raise next spring – which is when the George Pickens situation returns to the headlines as well. The money is getting tight again around here, but that is what it costs to put a big roster together. We know this much.
Over the Cap shows us that there are now six corners who are over $30m a year and surely Mitchell and Porter will make it eight.
Surely, the Micah money is now spoken for. Daron Bland’s money has low guarantees, but they did push a lot of it back in restructures, so it isn’t quite a chance to push his money over to Porter.
But, Porter is a player Bland is not. You might like both of them and I am sure that is the plan for now, but the prices are going up fast across the board.
Job one is going to be to be sure that Porter is who you think he is. And what is that?
What type of player is Porter for the Cowboys to do this?
Let’s go back to Fangio. You would think that the idea is to put Quinyon Mitchell on the best WR and then use the zone matches to flood the others. Actually, with Mitchell, we have seen the opposite. They often will use him against what they think is the No. 2 guy and take him out completely and then use numbers against the No. 1.
Pittsburgh has done that a fair amount when the Steelers would play the Bengals. Instead of Porter vs Chase, it has often been Porter vs Higgins.
But, as we go back to Sunday, we think of the Cowboys utter cluelessness on how to deal with Zay Flowers. We know that they still feel outclassed with Bland and Revel as their top corners. Cobie Durant walked in on a small deal and felt like the best corner on the roster pretty quickly to me. That shouldn’t be.
So, now, we turn on the 2025 tape of Porter to see what sort of guy he is. And I think the following five minutes should give you joy. Now, like I said, I am on a short clock today, so I did not get to circle him. But, I watched several games and these plays all got the big check mark of approval. He is No. 24 and look for the press coverage and the white arm sleeves to find him. I believe in you!
He is a blanket (he might say a seatbelt) on these routes. He is ultra aggressive. He is in their pocket. He plays in phase and he does it almost too well (the flags). But, if you are looking for a guy who can deal with the best challenges, I would say I feel great about his game. He doesn’t back down and he takes the plays personally. This is a competitor who has tremendous size and confidence. He seems really suited for those short yardage moments where you want to eliminate one target so you tell Joey to stick to him. This is what sticky coverage looks like.
He is known for his press-man and there are plenty of scheme fit conversations, but I really think that is overblown. No, I don’t want him worrying about too much “off and soft” because that would be misuse. But, using him almost exactly like Quinyon Mitchell is used is absolutely fine with me. He eliminates key threats and cuts off the supply lines. You can scheme up tilted coverages to where he isn’t getting help, so the safeties make Bland and Durant better. He sets the tone.
Stick to the model said it well:
Cowboys pass defense last year:
- Yards per pass (31st)
- Passer rating allowed (31st)
- 40 yard passes allowed (32nd)
- Touchdown passes allowed (31st)
Joey Porter Jr. last year, out of 75 corners:
- Yards per target (5th)
- Catch rate allowed (5th)
- Touchdowns allowed (0)
- Passer rating allowed (2nd)
Gets the occasional flag, but JPJ is elite
I think we can agree that this is most impressive.
If he is so great, what is Pittsburgh trading him for?
Well, as you may know, they went and got Jalen Ramsey and pay him over $20m a year and then grabbed up Jamel Dean from Tampa Bay this past spring. We could argue that they were probably not going to invest heavily in Porter’s future partly because they have so much money on their defense already. They want their assets for their offense moving forward which makes them the opposite of Dallas. Both teams have invested on one side of the ball and are now chasing a balance. Every franchise is dealing with their own issues.
For Pittsburgh to let a player like Porter leave – after the Porter family has been part of the Steelers forever – must give us an indication that the money ask was way up there. Maybe we need to wait to see if Dallas has a deal in place or are truly willing to go to the spring with both former Steelers as potential UFAs.
And another thing, Porter is not a perfect player.
I would rather have Quinyon Mitchell. I would rather have Christian Gonzalez. Why do I say that?
In going through the tape, there are some issues that makes him a tier below for me. Here is a bit under five minutes to show you the 2025 tape I wasn’t crazy about.
He is not a great edge run defender. He will take a number of “too grabby” penalties in his combat with top receivers and that is consistent to the guy he has always been. There are times where he appears willing to let someone else make the tackle and that is not something I enjoy a whole lot. He takes penalties – although he is getting better at figuring it out. He can be a bit emotional and can get baited at times.
But, I see the vision here. I like the player a lot and I think this will make the Cowboys better. Does this mean they are saying goodbye to Pickens? Let’s get Porter in here and see how good he is.
But, yes, this is another year of a huge transition in the middle of the year and we do hope the Cowboys get to a spot where they can just see their roster play and find out what they have and how the development looks. It is yet another jolt in a new direction. I am even sure they have considered that trading a 2nd might be compensated with a 3rd back if he walks.
But, I would also say they have no plays on letting him walk. They think they got a top corner who is only 26-years-old. And they think he can be their Quinyon Mitchell.
Below is what I wrote about him for his draft profile. I loved him and expected big things. I feel pretty good about how it aged.
https://bobsturm.substack.com/p/sturm-60-rewind-23-joey-porter-jr
Joey Porter Jr., Penn St: 6-2, 193, rs-junior, age 22
Joey Porter Jr. has been a familiar name in the 2023 draft process for some time because of his incredibly large frame and stature, not to mention his father’s reputation across the league as a force of defensive excellence. Porter played four seasons at Penn State and was All-Big Ten three times and a 2022 All-American campaign. His long arms and wingspan are incredible and even exceed Sauce Gardner’s from 2022.
Strengths: The positives are easy to see. He is tall, long and really is all over his guy at the snap to a point where the routes are often ended right there. He disrupts with an elite punch and also has the requisite speed to recover if needed on deeper routes. He can deal with the run game and more importantly the catch-point is where his 80-inch wingspan will be incredibly disruptive. He has plenty of play strength when there is a ball to win.
Concerns: The concerns are that he is so physical that there is little doubt he will have penalty issues at the next level where officials are much more stringent on defensive backs who grab. You will want him in the right press-man scheme and his general foot quickness will not allow him to match up well with the slots and quick receivers who will work you to the middle of the field.
Overview: You certainly are always looking for a Richard Sherman clone (despite Sherman’s famous fifth-round selection) and Porter checks plenty of the boxes. He has a great frame, great tools and a wonderful disposition. He will also take time to figure things out at the next level with proper coaching. I would not expect rookie of the year work, but I do expect a very fine career.
FIRST-ROUND GRADE for me.
Conclusion:
This is a ballsy move that I really like. But, like so much of this defense, the clock continues to tick and this will be another big adjustment with another big investment. Is it a perfect scheme fit? Does he want to be here longterm? Can Dallas turn the corner defensively if they can ever get their best 11 together?
There is plenty or risk, of course. But, they see their window and they continue to indicate they are tired of being tired. They want to throw resources at the problems and I like that aggression.
The bottom line for me is that they needed a No. 1 corner and I think Porter can be that guy, partly because he already has been that guy. He is a very good player and Dallas should be better today because of it. They have acquired another top defender at the start of his prime and each one they gather puts them closer to having a defense that will give them a real chance to compete.
What say you?
