The New York Giants made the right decision not to trade for Joey Porter Jr.
The New York Giants are in dire need of cornerback help, but that doesn't mean they should be willing to sell the farm for only a decent player at the position.
We saw an example of that late Wednesday night, when the Dallas Cowboys swung a trade to acquire Joey Porter Jr. from the Pittsburgh Steelers, sending a 2028 second-round pick and a 2027 sixth-rounder to the Steelers in exchange for him.
Much like the Giants, the Cowboys needed secondary help, and they got it. Porter is a good player, and he should absolutely make Dallas better.
He would have made New York better, too, but there is no way the Giants should have been willing to pay that price, and for multiple reasons.
First of all, New York is thin on draft capital as it is right now. The Giants have just four 2027 draft picks following their decision to move a fifth-rounder for J.J. McCarthy. There was no need for them to trade another 2027 pick, and I would prefer that they hold on to their 2028 second-rounder unless they were getting an elite player in return.
That brings me to my second point: Porter is good, but he isn't elite.
We're not talking about a genuine lockdown cornerback here. We're talking about a good player who is really a mid-to-low-end No. 1 and an outstanding No. 2. You can actually argue that Porter is similar to what Paulson Adebo was in New Orleans.
A team in the Giants' position should not be trading top draft picks for merely solid talent, and that's especially when that specific player is in a contract year.
That's the third point: Porter is slated to hit free agency after the season, so New York would have been risking trading legitimate assets for a guy who could walk. The Cowboys were willing to take that plunge. The Giants wisely didn't.
Finally, why move draft capital for a player you could just sign in five months anyway? Especially when your starting quarterback and top defender are now out for the season?
New York might still have a sliver of hope to win the NFC East because of how bad the division is, but Big Blue shouldn't be playing for 2026 at this point. They aren't contending for a Super Bowl. They should be making plans for 2027 and beyond.
If that means making a push for Porter in free agency (so long as the Cowboys don't extend him beforehand), then so be it, but completing a trade for him now was never going to be the right move for the Giants, even if they didn't sustain the injuries they have.
