The regular season is just one week old, and yet there's already trade suggestions floating around the league.
Including ESPN's Jeremy Fowler looking at the Pittsburgh Steelers' potential interest in trading veteran cornerback Joey Porter Jr.
And the San Francisco 49ers are a possible landing spot, according to the ESPN insider.
The fourth-year pro is at a contractual impasse, and Fowler made it plain the Steelers would be willing to move him. Sending him across the country to another conference would make sense, from Pittsburgh's vantage point. So, a would-be trade with the Niners does have merit.
Fowler wrote:
The 49ers' cornerback rotation looked stout Thursday against the Los Angeles Rams, but seasons are long and Porter would help the defense immensely.
San Francisco has eight draft picks in 2027 and around $45 million in cap space.
Porter opposite Deommodore Lenoir would form a stout 1-2 cornerback combo.
But, would general manager John Lynch actually want to strike a deal?
Perhaps, but likely only under one circumstance.
Injuries would have to prompt 49ers to trade for Joey Porter
Lynch has already hinted at San Francisco not being overly active on the trade market between now and the November deadline, effectively saying the 49ers have to "earn" the right for him to be aggressive.
But the cornerback room isn't particularly a grave area of need. If anything, the only substantial reason the Niners would trade for 2023 Round 2 draftee is if they suddenly found themselves shorthanded.
The Niners may have used the offseason to light a proverbial fire under third-year corner Renardo Green, whose 2025 campaign ended in controversy when he was benched in the playoffs. Green responded well enough in Week 1, notching an interception against the Los Angeles Rams during San Francisco's convincing 27-7 victory in Melbourne, Australia.
Similarly, with established corners like Lenoir and Upton Stout cemented in their roles, Green would be the only one potentially in danger of losing a starting job, if such a trade happened.
That said, should one of those top three defensive backs go down with an extensive injury, there'd certainly be room to discuss sending prized assets to Pittsburgh in exchange for Porter.
But the discussion wouldn't automatically be complete. San Francisco has high hopes for rookie cornerback Ephesians Prysock, while veteran Jack Jones seems about as cemented as can be in a CB4 role on the depth chart.
True, Lynch and Co. are always exploring upgrades. In this case, though, it'd require a unique situation for something to actually happen.
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