Joey Porter Jr. Trade Makes Cowboys & Steelers New 'Best Frienemies'

FRISCO - Keep your friends close and your enemies … closer?

George Pickens. Broderick Jones. Joey Porter Jr.

What’s next for the Dallas Cowboys in their suddenly-and-awkwardly chummy relationship with the once-hated Pittsburgh Steelers: We're trading the coaching legacy of Tom Landry for Chuck Noll, swapping Hall-of-Fame quarterbacks Roger Staubach for Terry Bradshaw, and sending Rowdy to the Steel City for a box of Terrible Towels?

While the latter seems like a nice bargain come to think of it, clearly owner Jerry Jones’ recollection of the 1970s has deteriorated into so much fuzz. Because if you’re a Cowboys fan of a certain age, you absolutely despise the Steelers. Behind only the NFC East and the San Francisco 49ers, they are on the short list of bitter rivals and far and away No. 1 among AFC teams.

I get it. One team’s trash is another’s treasure. But now there’s a transaction pipeline flowing freely from North Texas to Western Pennsylvania.

Rivals turned … Frenemies?

Oh, and a deal so Cowboys-friendly here that there's built-in insurance against Porter continuing to fake ... er, suffer from ... a back injury?

Pickens, who more than wore out his welcome in Pittsburgh, has certainly paid dividends for Dallas since arriving in 2025. Ac quired as a backup, Jones so far has seem limited action on special teams and at right tackle (one snap).

Now comes Porter from the Steelers, where he fell out of favor because of injuries and a current contract negotiation snafu. Is he a talented player? Absolutely. Will he - like Pickens - get his act together in Dallas? TBD.

Porter, 26, was drafted 32nd overall in 2023. He started 41 games over his first three seasons and recorded 31 passes defended with three interceptions, establishing himself as a stud fixture in the Steelers’ secondary. When it comes to the percentage of passes completed in his direction, he’s among the NFL’s best.

This season, however, he has yet to play because of a back injury.

Miraculously, though - as he'd been ruled out of playing in the Steelers' Thursday game - there is word he might somehow be healed up just in time for Sunday at Houston.

But just in case? Some extra friendliness, as it's being reported by ESPN that the Steelers agreed to a clause in the trade (which features Dallas giving up only a second-round pick in 2028 and a sixth-rounder in 2027 sixth-round pick) that erases the sixth-rounder.

Only after Porter is on the gameday roster twice does that part of the deal get paid off.

Obviously, there's a good bet he's playing; he's already celebrating his move on social media with a "Here I Come'' message to Dallas.

Also obvious: Yes, the Cowboys need reinforcements on defense. After the pomp-and-circumstance hailing how much better the defense would be this season with the arrivals of coordinator Christian Parker and seven new starters including two rookies, Dallas ranks 30th in the league and coughs up 387 yards and 27 points per game.

Hello, 1-2.

When healthy and happy, Porter is a starting cornerback opposite DaRon Bland. ... a star with unusual length (6-2, 195) and great record for not giving up TDs or even receptions.

The Cowboys now have just four picks in the 2027 NFL draft (Rounds 1, 2, 4 and 7). But I guess as Los Angeles Rams’ general manager Les Snead famously said after trading away his team’s draft to win a Super Bowl with players such as Matthew Stafford, Jalen Ramsey and Von Miller: “F' Them Picks!”

Could Pickens, Porter and Jones lead the Cowboys to a Super Bowl? This season, it’s highly unlikely. But what those three have already done is dust off memories of a heated rivalry and soured some old-school fans who once embraced the ideological feud between oil and steel, and cherished …

Doomsday over Steel Curtain.

Hollywood Henderson over Terry “C-A-T” Bradshaw.

Drew Pearson over Lynn Swann.

Captain America over Jack Lambert.

Larry Brown over Neil O’Donnell.

And, especially, Super Bowl XXX over Super Bowl X and XIII.