The Pittsburgh Steelers traded Joey Porter Jr. to the Dallas Cowboys last week. And how did general manager Omar Khan respond? By signing a cornerback off the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' practice squad who hasn't played a down of football since the 2024 season.
On Monday, NFL insider Tom Pelissero reported that the Steelers are poaching veteran cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting from the Bucs' practice squad. Murphy-Bunting, the 39th overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft, has played in 82 NFL games, making 65 starts while recording 11 career interceptions.
Because the Steelers signed Murphy-Bunting off an opposing team's practice squad, he must go directly to Pittsburgh's 53-man roster. In other words, they cannot make a lateral move.
This desperate attempt to help the cornerback position comes less than a week after the Steelers officially traded Porter to the Cowboys. However, that's not the only reason for the signing. On Thursday Night Football in Week 4, starting cornerback Jamel Dean exited the game with an ankle injury, and he could miss a few weeks.
Now the Steelers may be considering thrusting a CB into action who hasn't seen the field in nearly two years. Knowing all of this could have been avoided had they just signed Joey Porter Jr. makes it sting all the more.
Sean Murphy-Bunting won't replace Joey Porter Jr. for the Pittsburgh Steelers
This goes without saying, but in case anyone needed to hear it: Sean Murphy-Bunting will not replace Joey Porter Jr. for the Steelers. The harsh reality of the situation is that Pittsburgh recently traded one of the best lockdown man-coverage cornerbacks in the NFL for a high-variance CB who is two years removed from meaningful game action.
Murphy-Bunting's most recent sample of play came with the Arizona Cardinals, where he recorded five passes defensed and three interceptions in 15 starts. Before that, the former second-round pick started 36 of 53 total games played in Tampa Bay.
Ironically, Murphy-Bunting was the CB who started the most games opposite Dean during their time together with the Buccaneers. These two cornerbacks were taken by Tampa Bay with back-to-back selections in the 2019 NFL Draft. And interestingly, Murphy-Bunting was selected before Dean (39th overall and 94th overall, respectively).
To his credit, there's a reason why Murphy-Bunting didn't suit up at all last year—he was coming off a season-ending ACL/MCL injury. This ailment was sustained during the offseason away from the team, so it landed Murphy-Bunting on the NFI list (reserve/non-football injury list).
Now 29, Murphy-Bunting is looking to mount an NFL comeback. However, it's not a good sign that he couldn't crack the Buccaneers' 53-man roster.
There are some things to like about Murphy-Bunting. The 6'0'', 195-pound cornerback possessed outstanding athletic traits. Entering the league in 2019, he recorded a 4.42-second 40-yard dash (1.51-second 10-yard split) and a 41 1/2'' vertical jump.
But that was pre-knee injury. This is now.
During the best parts of his career, Murphy-Bunting was a respectable cover corner who struggled with consistency as a run defender. At his lowest moments, he's been an unreliable player in the secondary who has allowed too many explosive plays and has been penalized at a high rate.
In the late stages of his NFL career and coming off an extended football absence, it's unreasonable to expect Sean Murphy-Bunting to be anything more for the Steelers than a serviceable depth option. Pittsburgh may be forced to call his name as Jamel Dean nurses back to health from the ankle injury, but this addition hardly lessens the blow of losing Joey Porter Jr. in the Cowboys trade.
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