Jalen Ramsey told reporters earlier this week that he’s dealing with a fractured wrist.
It’s apparently not going to stop him from being on the field on Thursday night.
Per Jeremy Fowler of ESPN, Ramsey is expected to play against the Browns.
Ramsey was listed as a limited participant on the three injury reports this week and is officially questionable for the contest.
Ramsey has been utilizing a brace/cast on his wrist.
In his second season with Pittsburgh, Ramsey has registered 17 total tackles with one pass defensed and a forced fumble so far in 2026.
Steelers Clips
In trading for former Steelers cornerback Joey Porter Jr., the Cowboys are taking a leap of faith that Porter will play without a new contract.
The Cowboys have some protection against the possibility of Porter not playing.
Via Todd Archer of ESPN, the 2027 sixth-round pick is tied to Porter being on the gameday roster for at least two games before that selection goes through.
While the second-round pick in 2028 isn’t attached to that caveat, the Cowboys would be in line for a 2028 third-round compensatory pick if Porter leaves as a free agent in March.
If Porter immediately suits up for Sunday’s game against the Texans, the term most likely will be satisfied. If, for some reason, the “back” and “conditioning” issues linger, the Cowboys will keep their 2027 sixth-round pick.
Although few were willing to call it what it was, it’s obvious that former Steelers cornerback Joey Porter Jr. hadn’t played in Week 1, Week 2, or Week 3 for the Steelers because he hadn’t gotten a new contract.
With the Steelers already ruling Porter out for Thursday night’s Week 4 game at Cleveland, it’s possible the Cowboys will rule him in for Sunday at Houston.
Via Adam Schefter of ESPN, there is “a chance” Porter will play on Sunday. Said Clarence Hill Jr. of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram not long after the news of the trade broke, Porter will play on Sunday “as long as the back feels good.”
With Porter apparently accepting that the trade to the Cowboys won’t include a new contract, there’s no reason to use the back as an excuse to not play. If/when he does play, it will confirm that the entire back/conditioning thing was all about getting a new contract from the Steelers.
Not that confirmation is needed. It’s obvious that his training-camp hold-in had extended into the regular season. The Steelers opted to take the path of least resistance. The Cowboys likely won’t have to come up with a strategy to get Porter to suit up and play.
From Porter’s perspective, that’s fine. There’s a flaw in the Collective Bargaining Agreement that works to the benefit of the players. Given that the CBA is loaded up with so many team-friendly terms, why shouldn’t the players use anything they can to get what they want?
The Joey Porter Jr. trade could eventually work to the benefit of George Pickens. Or, thanks to Pickens, to the advantage of Porter.
The Cowboys tagged Pickens in 2026, at a franchise tender of $27.298 million. With the market at the position now north of $42 million, that’s a great bargain for Dallas. It’s so good that they could tag him again in 2027, at $32.758 million.
They also could tag cornerback Joey Porter Jr., at a number that will be far below the top of the market at the position.
But here’s the catch. They can’t tag both. Every team has one — and only one — to use per year.
For the Cowboys, that means choosing one or the other. Which will create potentially compelling negotiations, with the Cowboys possibly working hard to get one signed so that the other can be tagged.
For the players, who are allowed to collude, one potential strategy would be to take the position that they won’t negotiate until the tag deadline comes and goes. That will likely result in one being tagged, and the other having a straight shot at the open market.
Complicating the situation is the fact that both players are represented by David Mulugheta of Athletes First.
It gives the players an element of power over the situation. They can prevent the Cowboys from keeping both or, at a minimum, they can force the Cowboys to compete with other interested teams as to one of them.
Presumably, the Cowboys have a plan. (Then again, they didn’t have a plan with seven seconds left against the Ravens.) It could be as simple as using the inevitability of one of them becoming a free agent to get the most out of both of them. Then, after the season, they’ll decide which one to tag.
And if/when one of them leaves, they’ll be in line for a third-round compensatory pick in 2028. Which will either replace the third-round pick they sent to Pittsburgh for Pickens, or offset the 2028 second-round pick that they’ll be giving up for Porter.
Cornerback Joey Porter Jr. wanted a new contract. He didn’t get one. He wanted a trade. He got one.
So now he’ll get a new contract, right?
Wrong, perhaps.
Via Clarence Hill Jr. of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, the trade of Porter from the Steelers to the Cowboys comes without a new contract.
The Cowboys inherit the $3.052 million balance of his $3.924 million base salary for 2026. They also acquire the ability to apply the franchise tag to Porter in 2027.
With the 2026 franchise tag for cornerbacks at $21.161 million and the market well above $30 million, the Cowboys could be tempted to tag Porter and kick the can.
They also could let him leave, harvest a third-round compensatory pick in 2028, and thereby offset the second-round pick they’ll be sending to the Steelers that year (and the 2027 sixth-rounder).
For both sides, the move smacked of desperation. The Cowboys are desperate to improve their defense. And the Steelers were desperate to get out of a contract impasse that had no middle ground.
The Cowboys are sending the Steelers two draft picks in the trade that brings cornerback Joey Porter Jr. to Dallas.
The Steelers will get a 2027 sixth-round pick and 2028 second-round pick, according to multiple reports. The 2027 sixth-round pick is the Steelers’ own sixth-rounder, which they had previously traded to the Cowboys as part of the George Pickens deal.
For the Cowboys, it’s a move that’s about bolstering the defense immediately with a player who’s in the final year of his contract, whereas for the Steelers it’s about acquiring future draft capital for a player who clearly wanted more money than the Steelers were going to be willing to pay.
Whether the Cowboys pay that money remains to be seen. It would be unusual to trade for a player in the last year of his contract and not give him an extension, but the Cowboys could also be thinking that they’ll get the rest of this season out of Porter and then evaluate whether to sign him to a long-term deal or let him walk in free agency.
The Cowboys could be calculating that getting one good season out of Porter this year and then letting him leave for a lucrative contract with another team wouldn’t be the worst thing, as that would likely bring them a third-round compensatory pick in 2028. Essentially, they’d be renting Porter for one season and only paying him the $3.924 million salary on the final year of his contract, at the price of moving down from the second to the third round in 2028.
For the Steelers, they’re losing one of their most talented players, but it had become clear that things weren’t going to work out for Porter in Pittsburgh. He was unhappy with his contract and still hasn’t played this season, officially because of a back injury — a back injury that the Steelers may have calculated was not going to heal until they gave him the contract he wanted.
Whether Porter gets that contract in Dallas this year, in Dallas next offseason, or with some other team next offseason, he’s now a Cowboy, and the Steelers have acquired two draft picks for a player who wanted out.
Last year, once the Cowboys realized that linebacker Micah Parsons wasn’t going to play without a new contract, Dallas traded him.
This year, the Steelers apparently have realized that cornerback Joey Porter Jr. wouldn’t be playing without a new contract. And so they’re trading him.
Per multiple reports, the Steelers are sending Porter to the Cowboys.
The full terms have yet to emerge. The separate question will be whether the Cowboys will give Porter the contract he couldn’t get in Pittsburgh.
Dallas could decide to ride it out in 2026, with Porter making $3.924 million. Then, they could apply the franchise tag in 2027.
It’s hard to imagine the Cowboys tradining for a player who apparently doesn’t intend to play until he gets a new deal.
The common link between Porter, a second-round pick in 2023, and Parsons is that both are represented by David Mulugheta of Athletes First. Mulugheta also represents receiver George Pickens, who was traded by the Steelers to the Cowboys in May 2025.
The Cowboys haven’t given Pickens a new deal. For 2026, they tagged him. For receivers, the franchise tender is well below market value. It is for cornerbacks, too.
Much will be revealed in the coming hours. For now, the most important point is that the impasse between the Steelers and Porter has ended with Porter being sent to a new team.
The Browns will not have their starting center for Thursday night’s game against the Steelers.
Cleveland has ruled out Elgton Jenkins due to a concussion.
Jenkins was listed as a non-participant on all three injury reports this week.
Luke Wypler is likely to start at center for Jenkins.
Cleveland also ruled out guard Teven Jenkins (back) and receiver/returner Tylan Wallace (knee).
But cornerback Tyson Campbell (knee), safety Grant Delpit (shoulder), and right tackle Tytus Howard (knee) are all set to play with no game status. Campbell did not play in Sunday’s victory over the Panthers.
Cornerback Joey Porter Jr. appeared to be making progress toward a return to the Steelers lineup this week, but any hope he would make his 2026 debut on Thursday night against the Browns has been dashed.
Porter was ruled out by the Steelers on Wednesday. Porter was listed as a full participant in practice on Monday and Tuesday with conditioning work given as the only reason why he was on the list. He was limited on Wednesday, however, and the back injury that kept him on the physically unable to perform list all summer is back on the report as well.
While the back injury and need for conditioning are the health reasons for Porter’s absence, his inability to secure a contract extension has been the backdrop to the weekly questions about his availability and the one step forward, one step back nature of his practice work does little to suggest that the contract isn’t playing a role.
The Steelers have other injury concerns at corner. Jalen Ramsey is listed as questionable with what he said is a broken wrist and Brandin Echols has the same designation due to a concussion.
Running back Rico Dowdle (toe) has been ruled out for the second straight game.
By beating the Bengals on Sunday, Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers equaled former Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger’s career win total.
Both Rodgers and Roethlisberger have exactly 165 regular-season wins as a starting quarterback, tied for the fifth-most ever. Roethlisberger played his entire career with the Steelers, while Rodgers has 147 wins with the Packers, 12 with the Steelers and six with the Jets.
The all-time record for wins by a starting quarterback may never be broken: Tom Brady retired with 251 career wins, 219 with the Patriots and 32 with the Buccaneers. You could take Rodgers’ stellar career, add five 17-0 seasons on top of it, and you’d still be one win short of Brady’s career win total.
Tied for second place in all-time wins are Brett Favre and Peyton Manning, each with 186. Favre won 160 starts with the Packers, 17 with the Vikings and nine with the Jets. Manning won 141 starts with the Colts and 45 with the Broncos.
Rodgers has a chance to surpass No. 4 on the all-time wins list, Drew Brees, who won 172 career games: 142 with the Saints and 30 with the Chargers. If Rodgers and the Steelers win eight more games this season, Rodgers will retire ahead of Brees and behind only Brady, Manning and Favre on the all-time wins list.
