It is maybe not the boldest of projections, but it still would represent a significant move on the part of the Cowboys—dumping wide receiver Michael Gallup, who has massively underachieved since Dallas gave him a five-year, $57.5 million extension in 2022. The idea was to have Gallup be the team’s deep-play threat, stretching the field for CeeDee Lamb and Brandin Cooks, but Gallup was never really up to the task.

In an article titled, “2024 NFL offseason: Bold moves, trades in free agency, draft for all 32 teams,” ESPN foresees the Cowboys cutting ties with Gallup in the coming weeks.

As Aaron Schatz wrote: “Gallup has never quite come back from the ACL injury he suffered near the end of the 2021 season. Last season, he was the clear third among the Cowboys’ main receivers. He ranked 59th in receiving DYAR out of 81 qualifying receivers. By comparison, CeeDee Lamb was third and Brandin Cooks was 28th after coming on strong in the second half of the season.

“A regular cut of Gallup would leave a ton of dead money on the Cowboys’ cap. But a post-June 1 cut would give the Cowboys $9.5 million in extra cap space with $4.4 million in dead money. That extra cap space would help the Cowboys, who are currently $20 million over the cap for 2024.”

Michael Gallup Was Emblematic of Cowboys’ Struggles

In fact, Gallup was emblematic of all that went wrong for the Cowboys this season. He was a major disappointment during the season, with 34 catches and just 418 yards, the fewest of his career. He posted good numbers in the playoff loss to the Packers (six catches and 103 yards) but did not make a catch until the Cowboys were down to the Packers, 20-0, and had only two first-half catches for 25 yards.

Now, with the Cowboys facing a massive payroll crunch, cutting Gallup is almost a must-do for Dallas.

The team is well over the cap, as Schatz points out, but it also needs to work out long-term deals for Lamb, quarterback Dak Prescott (which should actually lower the Cowboys’ cap number) and edge rusher Micah Parsons.

The Cowboys also need to either pay Tony Pollard at running back or bring in someone else, which won’t be cheap. Star left tackle Tyron Smith is a free agent, too.

Would Jerry Jones Admit His Mistake?

Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones does not much like admitting to mistakes, but it is clear that signing Gallup to a major contract and trading away Amari Cooper to Cleveland was a catastrophic error. Cooper has caught 150 passes for 2,410 yards and 14 touchdowns in the last two seasons. Gallup has 73 catches for 842 yards and six touchdowns in that same span.

Of course, getting rid of Gallup would leave a hole in the Cowboys wide-receiver corps, and the hope would have to be that third-year receiver Jalen Tolbert, a third-round pick in 2022, would fill the gap.

There is a strong crop of incoming receivers in the NFL draft, too, and the Cowboys could seek some depth that way, too. Either way, they’ve sunk too much money into Gallup, and it’s time to fix that mistake.