MONDAY, 8:23pm: The Cowboys are still confident they will retain Gallup on a pre-free agency extension, and Mike Garafolo of NFL.com notes the deal is expected to come in north of $10MM per year (video link). Dallas is aiming to complete a five-year deal with Gallup. Given where the receiver market has gone in recent years, the particulars will be interesting here.
FRIDAY, 4:58pm: This process might not be as close as initially indicated. Gallup and the Cowboys are in talks, but the Dallas Morning News’ Michael Gehlken tweets no deal is imminent. The parties are still working through “moving pieces” as they attempt to agree on a second contract, Josina Anderson of CBS Sports tweets.
FRIDAY, 3:39pm: The Cowboys’ wide receiver plan continues to unfold. Following reports of the team’s intentions to move on from Amari Cooper — via trade or release — the NFC East champions are hoping to retain Michael Gallup.
Gallup and the Cowboys are in talks on a deal that would keep him off the market. The sides are close to finalizing this extension, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. The Cowboys have exclusive negotiating rights with Gallup until March 14, when the legal tampering period begins. Absent a deal, the free agent-to-be would hit the open market March 16. A contract being finalized Friday would be fitting, as it is Gallup’s 26th birthday.
[RELATED: Cooper Trade Interest Scarce]
Moving Cooper’s $22MM cap number off the payroll will be important here, with the Cowboys long having needed to make a Cooper-or-Gallup choice to go along with CeeDee Lamb‘s rookie contract. Gallup did not have a productive contract year, missing several games because of his Week 1 calf injury and ending the season early due to an ACL tear. That stands to impact Gallup’s value, but the Cowboys are clearly confident he can regain his previous form and work alongside Lamb going forward. Gallup underwent surgery in February.
A third-round pick out of Colorado State, Gallup broke out for 1,107 yards in 2019 alongside Cooper. That is Gallup’s only 1,000-yard campaign, with Lamb having entered the picture a year later. But he still topped 800 in 2020 and enjoyed moments during an injury-plagued 2021 slate. Gallup will not command the price tag Cooper did when he signed a five-year, $100MM deal in 2020.
Reaching a lower-cost accord with Gallup would keep the Cowboys’ hopes of keeping Randy Gregory and Dalton Schultz as well. One of the duo can be retained via the franchise tag, which would make more sense for Schultz due to the tight end tag being much cheaper than the defensive line figure.
FWIW he seemed to be Dakar favorite target opening week until he went down. And came back again strong before the ACL. If nothing else they seem to have a good rapport
Makes sense. They should move on from
Zeke but I also don’t know what his cap numbers look like. Pollard is better at this point, imo
Looked it up. No savings until next year on Zeke so no reason to make a move
Drakkar Noir
Unless they get a mega discount theyd be better off cutting Cooper, letting Gallup walk, resigning Wilson to go with Noah Brown and Ceedee Lamb, and take a receiver in the 3rd like George Pickens or Alec Pierce.
A lot easier to put up those numbers even if Cooper isn’t. Cooper takes attention. They better hope Lamb steps up.
What’s the info source on GALLUP, POLL ?
Off topic but just read this and LOL’ed…THIS is Gruden’s argument against the NFL in his lawsuit.
“Defendants’ comment was hyperbolic at the time but now seems even more poorly considered in light of the claims by Brian Flores, made after the filing of the Motion, that the NFL engaged in a pattern of racist hiring practices.”
“Gruden contends if the NFL was truly concerned with social issues, it would have initiated disciplinary proceedings against him in June 2021 when it first became aware of his emails through the Washington Commanders investigation.”
“If they really cared about racism, they would have gotten rid of me a long time ago, since I’m racist!” is one heck of a defense against claims of being racist.