Sources: Steelers to trade Joey Porter Jr. to Cowboys - ESPN

After a lengthy and contentious contract standoff and a lingering back issue, Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Joey Porter Jr. is going to the Dallas Cowboys.

The Steelers on Wednesday night agreed to trade Porter to the Cowboys for a 2027 sixth-round pick and a 2028 second-rounder, sources told ESPN.

The trade marks the end of a monthslong saga that stretched throughout the Steelers' offseason as Porter, one of the team's 2023 second-round picks, awaited an extension and was sidelined by a back injury.

The heart of the dispute was the guaranteed money within the contract's structure, sources told ESPN, and the sides never made meaningful progress on agreeing to terms despite talks as late as hours before kickoff of the Steelers' Week 1 game against the Atlanta Falcons. The Steelers then stopped talks because they don't negotiate during the regular season as a longstanding organizational principle.

Porter, who started 41 games and had three interceptions in three seasons, sat out all of the team's training camp and preseason after reporting an aggravation to the back injury during the team's mobility workout on the first day of camp. He was put on the physically unable to perform list until roster cutdown day in late August.

Porter was then a limited participant in every regular-season practice until earlier this week as coach Mike McCarthy said the cornerback was progressing through a «ramp-up» phase during the first month of the season.

Porter was inactive for each of the first three games and had been ruled out earlier Wednesday of the Steelers' game Thursday night against the Browns in Cleveland. The Steelers added a back injury to Wednesday's practice report in addition to the «not injury related-conditioning»