With his Cowboys future on shaky ground, Michael Gallup could soon find himself in a new environment. The veteran wideout has been given permission to seek a trade, Calvin Watkins of the Dallas Morning News reports.
Gallup has already been tapped as a release candidate, so it comes as no surprise the Cowboys are prepared to move on from him. However, three years remain on his contract, and an acquiring team would need to absorb it in any potential swap. As Watkins notes, therefore, a tepid trade market exists at the moment.
The Cowboys (or his next team, if traded) would see $4M of Gallup’s $9.5M 2024 compensation become guaranteed on March 17. Moving on before that date would be logical, especially if it were to take place via a post-June 1 release. That route would create $9.5M in cap space, although those extra funds would not be available until June 2.
Should Dallas elect to retain the 28-year-old, the team would likely need to work out a restructure or extension to lower his cap figures. Gallup is set to count $13.85M against the cap in 2024, with that figure rising to $15.85M in 2025 and ’26. None of his base salaries are guaranteed in that span, and devoting such a notable amount of cap resources to a depth contributor would be problematic for the team.
Gallup posted an underwhelming 34-418-2 statline in 2023 as his role in the Cowboys’ offense continued to dwindle. CeeDee Lamb confirmed his status as one of the league’s best wideouts, and he will remain the focal point of Dallas’ passing game for years to come provided he secures a mega-extension in the relatively near future. Fellow receivers Jalen Tolbert, KaVontae Turpin and Jalen Brooks could take on larger complementary roles in the event Gallup were to be traded or released.
The 2024 free agent class has a few young deep threats in its WR ranks, something which could hinder Gallup’s earning power provided he reaches the open market. If suitors wish to add him without entering a financial bidding war, though, they could move quickly in swinging a trade before free agency begins next week. That would be an unlikely outcome given the cap implications, but the interest Gallup generates over the coming days will be worth monitoring.
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