Joey Porter Jr. is officially off the market, but Lions fans shouldn’t panic. Brad Holmes passed on the blockbuster move, and Detroit may have a much bigger opportunity waiting before the trade deadline.
Lions fans can officially stop hoping to see Joey Porter Jr. in Detroit, as he is officially a Dallas Cowboy.
Dallas gave up a 2028 second-round pick and a 2027 sixth-round pick for the Steelers cornerback. Many Lions fans had been begging Brad Holmes to pull the trigger and make a big trade, but at the end of the day, there was no shot Holmes was going to give up a second-round pick plus more for Porter Jr.
Did I want Porter Jr.? Of course. He would have been a solid addition and could have helped the Lions’ defense, but at the end of the day, I don’t think one player is going to come into this secondary and completely flip it around.
On top of the trade compensation, there have been reports that Porter Jr. wants $30 million per year on a new contract. With Detroit still needing to re-sign players like Sam LaPorta and Brian Branch, it would have been hard to imagine the Lions keeping all three of those players around next season if they had made the trade.
Sure, if Detroit traded for Porter Jr. and eventually let him walk, they could potentially receive a third-round compensatory pick. But at that point, if you give up a second-round pick to acquire him, let him walk and don’t win the Super Bowl, it feels like a lost cause.
I still believe the Lions will make a trade before the deadline. Fortunately for Detroit, they don’t play a whole lot of difficult teams before then.
The Lions’ next two games are on the road against the Panthers and Cardinals, two teams Detroit is favored against. Then, Detroit will have a bye week to assess where they are before finishing the stretch with home games against the Vikings and Packers and a matchup against the Dolphins on the road.
It’s hard to imagine Detroit doesn’t win at least three of those games, and they could potentially win all five.
The closer we get to the deadline, the more desperate teams could become to move players who are on the final years of their contracts, especially teams that know they won’t be making the playoffs and are already looking toward next season.
A few names to keep your eyes on are Donte Jackson, a cornerback for the Chargers, and Nashon Wright, a cornerback for the Jets. The Chargers are already 0-3 and have an incredibly tough schedule leading up to the trade deadline, so it wouldn’t shock me to see them move on from some players.
Wright could also be a plausible trade option, especially considering Aaron Glenn’s close ties with Dan Campbell.
Now, neither of these two names is nearly as good as Porter Jr. But at this point, anything would be better than what the Lions currently have in their secondary.
The good news is Detroit can officially take its eyes off Porter Jr. and go back to focusing on the Sunday Night Football matchup against the Carolina Panthers.
