After six seasons, it looks like the Dallas Cowboys are preparing to move on from receiver Michael Gallup. The Cowboys drafted Gallup out of Colorado State in the third round of the 2018 NFL Draft (81st overall), making him the ninth receiver chosen in that draft, and signed him to a five-year, $62.5 million extension in March 2022.
But Gallup only recorded 424 and 418 passing yards the past two seasons (in 14 and 17 games and 11 and 13 starts respectively). And Calvin Watkins of The Dallas Morning News reported Saturday evening that the team has now given him permission to seek a trade:
Cowboys have given WR Michael Gallup permission to seek a trade a source said. Situation is tough because teams expect Gallup to be released. @dmn_cowboys
— Calvin Watkins (@calvinwatkins) March 10, 2024
As noted by Watkins there, it may be difficult for the Cowboys to find a trade partner for Gallup with this widespread expectation that he’ll be released. And the market for him may have been limited even without that. He recorded career-highs for receptions (66), yards (1,107), and touchdowns (six) in 2019, and recorded 843 receiving yards and five touchdowns the next year, but has not been as productive since. (Although, he did have six catches for 103 yards in the team’s playoff loss to the Green Bay Packers this season, behind only CeeDee Lamb.)
2021 saw Gallup put up 445 yards and two touchdowns in just nine games while battling a calf injury and then ultimately tearing his ACL in Week 17. But even in the fuller seasons since then, he hasn’t accomplished as much. Gallup just turned 28, so he could have some productive years remaining. But the evaluation of him may depend on if teams think he can get back to his 2019-2021 form or not.
This move is also worth considering in terms of the Cowboys’ receiver room. As per the depth chart on the team site, Gallup was listed as their fifth receiver, behind Lamb, Jalen Brooks, Brandin Cooks, and KaVontae Turpin, but ahead of Jalen Tolbert. Dallas moving on from Gallup could provide a chance for Tolbert (in his third year with the team) to move into a more prominent role, or it could indicate the team planning to stock up at the position elsewhere, whether in free agency (negotiations begin Monday and players can officially sign Wednesday) or the draft. We’ll see who the Cowboys tab to replace Gallup in Dak Prescott’s collection of targets.
