Michael Gallup might miss time, so Dallas Cowboys will target receiver in NFL Draft
The more the Dallas Cowboys talk, the less sense some of the decisions they have made in free agency seem to make.
Team vice president Stephen Jones said the Cowboys wanted to keep wide receiver Amari Cooper, but ultimately couldn’t fit his $20 million annual salary under cap while signing Michael Gallup to a five-year, $57.5 million deal.
Jones said the Cowboys are going to have to try to be better and more efficient on offense without Cooper, who was traded to the Cleveland Browns, and Cedrick Wilson, who signed with the Miami Dolphins in free agency. He said guys are going to have to step up.
In the same breath, Jones acknowledged that Gallup might miss two or three games at the start of the season while he continues to recover from the ACL tear he sustained in a game on Jan. 2. Gallup also had a calf strain in the season opener, and he wound up missing the next seven games.
Gallup’s contract is reflective of uncertainty as to how he’ll respond. He has $1 million in annual per-game roster bonuses. That’s $58,824 per game.
“Optimistically, I expect him to give us a question mark around the first game,” Jerry Jones said on Monday. “And I see a conversation that says conservatively, you would like to have a couple more games to get him out there.”
On Tuesday, Stephen Jones was more definitive about Gallup possibly missing the first two or three games of the season.
Gallup was slated to be the No. 2 receiver with CeeDee Lamb stepping up into the No. 1 receiver role in place of the departed Cooper.
The Cowboys signed former Pittsburgh Steelers receiver James Washington to a modest one-year deal in free agency. Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy said the team will look to get the ball more in the hands of running back Tony Pollard to help make up for the losses of Cooper and Wilson.
But Stephen Jones said the team will also look to the NFL Draft for help at receiver.
“We are going to have to draft well,” Stephen Jones said. “We lost two really good receivers in Amari and Ced. We are looking to find some people who make plays. That receiver situation certainly jumps out.”
This story was originally published March 30, 2022 at 2:46 PM.
