Cowboys WR Michael Gallup could miss first two or three games of 2022 season following ACL injury

The passing attack of the Dallas Cowboys will have a different look this summer after the team traded wide receiver Amari Cooper to the Cleveland Browns and allowed Cedrick Wilson Jr. to hit free agency and, ultimately, sign with the Miami Dolphins. 

Dallas kept one familiar face in the fold by putting pen to paper on a five-year extension that could be worth up to $62.5 million with 26-year-old Michael Gallup, but that deal comes with plenty of questions as of the early days of spring. Gallup went down with a torn ACL in his left knee back on Jan. 2, and the standard recovery timeline for such setbacks puts his status for September's regular-season opener in doubt.

Per Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk, Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones told reporters Tuesday at the league's annual meetings that Gallup could miss the first two or three games of the regular season. According to the Cowboys' official website, Gallup did not undergo surgery to repair the injury until February. 

"Optimistically, I expect him to give us a question mark around the first game," Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones said of Gallup earlier in the week. "And I see a conversation that's a conservatively, 'We'd like to have a couple more games to get him out there,' and then I can see the aggressive side being, 'He's sure looking good out there, feels good and says he's ready to go."

Gallup finished this past season with 35 catches for 445 receiving yards and two touchdowns across nine contests. It's unknown if Dallas will look to trade for a proven commodity if it becomes clear Gallup won't be ready to go before October.