Cowboys contract ways look worse as Gallup retires same day Cooper gets raise

The Cowboys chose the cheaper of the two and the one more people seemed to get along with, but the decision once again rears it’s head. | From @KDDrummondNFL

 

Michael Gallup was a beloved member of the Cowboys’ organization, by most accounts Amari Cooper was not. Tuesday brought yet another reminder of how sometimes those things may not matter as much as a team wants to if their focus is solely placed on winning.

Gallup was revered as a good man, not just a player, and that’s the most important description anyone can strive for in life. Assuredly his Cowboys family is disappointed to hear that he has decided to retire from the NFL before ever playing a game for his new team, the Las Vegas Raiders.

No one is saying Cooper isn’t a good man, however he was not revered in the same manner. Cooper however is now set to play out his final year of the deal Dallas gave him then traded to the Cleveland Browns in 2022, but with a raise and new guarantees ahead of the new season.

Gallup was released this spring after he was unable to return to form following a 2021 knee injury. It was a tough decision at the time for Dallas, as Gallup’s relationship with Dak Prescott and many teammates was a sincere appreciation of the person, even as the player was no longer the contributor the team needed him to be.

Gallup was never able to live up to the promise of his 2019 campaign. The 2018 third-round pick seemed like a rising star in his second season, catching 66 targets for over 1,000 receiving yards as part of a receiving trio that totaled over 3,000 yards alongside Amari Cooper and Randall Cobb.

The club drafted CeeDee Lamb in 2020 after the Oklahoma star miraculously fell to them in the first round, moving Gallup down the pecking order, but still as a vital cog as he secured 59 catches for 843 yards. The following season Gallup was only able to play in nine games and his numbers plummeted, his season starting with a severe calf strain in Week 1 and ending with an ACL injury in Week 17.

Gallup returned in 2022, but was a shell of himself, unable to get much separation from defensive backs. The hope was that a year removed from the injury would see him return to form, but that didn’t occur with the former Colorado State star amassing 842 yards combined over the two years.

Dallas walked away from the five-year, $57.5 million contract they awarded him in Spring 2022 despite the injury. It was another head-scratching reward contract for a front-office favorite, an unwise decision similar to when the team had paid linebacker Jaylon Smith several years prior.

The Cowboys basically chose signing the cheaper Gallup rather than keeping Cooper, who was entering the third year of his extension after he rejuvenated the Dallas passing offense via a 2018 mid-year trade with those same Raiders.

Cooper has turned in back-to-back 1,100 and 1,200 receiving yard seasons with Cleveland despite their horrid quarterback situation through both campaigns.

And while moving on from Cooper allowed Lamb to evolve into one of the NFL’s top-five receivers, it’s an assumption his alpha ascension couldn’t have happened if he and Cooper still shared a locker room.

Perhaps the reasons the Cowboys’ front office soured on Cooper was something that was felt in the locker room as well, which would merit the decision to move on from the player despite missing his on-field play. Still, the financials of it all are a bit cringe worthy, especially coming out of an offseason where Dallas refused to spend on any free agent help or extend their remaining stars.

After Gallup’s release, which left $4.4 million of dead money on this year’s Cowboys cap and $8.7 million on 2025’s cap, he signed with the Raiders and seemed like an easy fit into their WR rotation.

Now he’s walking away from the game and leaving a whole in their depth charts.