Getty The Dallas Cowboys can solve the Falcons' WR problems.
Russell Gage is a free agent and so is Cordarrelle Patterson, while Calvin Ridley remains a candidate to be traded. It all adds up to the Atlanta Falcons needing to find at least one new wide receiver this offseason.
The free-agency route won’t be an easy one for general manager Terry Fontenot to take. Not when the Falcons are projected by Spotrac.com to be $7,295,266 over this year’s salary cap.
A cost-effective option could come from the Dallas Cowboys, according to one NFL writer. He thinks this former 1,000-yard receiver could become leading member of a new-look Falcons passing game.
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Cowboys’ Pass-Catcher Has No. 1 Receiver Potential
In a list of the best free-agent fits for each NFC team, Around The NFL’s Nick Shook named Michael Gallup as ideal for the Falcons: “I’d love to pair Allen Robinson or Chris Godwin with the Falcons, but they simply don’t have the projected cap space necessary to make a strong offer for either receiver. We’ll drop down a couple of tiers, then, to match them with Gallup, a starting outside receiver who could fill a significant role for a team that should be looking for pass-catching help regardless of whether Calvin Ridley stays in Atlanta. Gallup will likely not be in the position to demand a massive contract, coming off a torn ACL.”
This is a move that would make sense on a lot of levels. As Shook pointed out, Gallup resides “a couple of tiers” below the primary names at his position in this year’s market, so more in the range of a team with the Falcons’ cap issues.
The 26-year-old amassed 1,107 yards in 2019, before his numbers dropped to 59 grabs for 843 yards a year later. A calf injury suffered in Week 1 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers landed Gallup on injured reserve last season. He returned against the Falcons in Week 10 but tore his ACL in the penultimate regular season game against the Arizona Cardinals.
When healthy, Gallup is sure handed and possesses deceptive quicks. He can win over the middle and deep, like he did on this play against the Falcons’ NFC South rivals the New Orleans Saints in Week 13:
Despite the injuries, the Falcons should still be interested because their receiving options look threadbare. Patterson, Gage, Tajae Sharpe and Olamide Zaccheaus are on the team’s list of free agents. Meanwhile, Ridley continues to be linked with trade partners, including the New England Patriots, per ESPN’s Bill Barnwell.
Signing Gallup would solve a lot of problems for the Falcons, but unfortunately re-signing him would do the same for the Cowboys.
Cowboys’ WR Picture as Messy as Falcons
If the Falcons have question marks at wide receiver, they are nothing compared to the decisions facing the Cowboys. One of those decisions might have already been made regarding Amari Cooper’s cap hit, according to ESPN Insider Adam Schefter:
Cowboys are “likely” to release WR Amari Copper by the start of the new league year, per league sources.
Cooper is due $20 million in fully guaranteed money on the fifth day of the new league year, March 20.
If Cooper is cut loose, the Cowboys will be without their true No. 1 receiver. It’s a role Gallup could grow into, one reason why the franchise is now zeroing in on him for a contract extension.
Gallup’s next deal will be a “priority,” per Yahoo Sports’ Charles Robinson:
Making Gallup a priority makes sense because his fellow receivers, Cedrick Wilson, Noah Brown and Malik Turner, are all pending free agents. It means there’s room for a proven commodity like Gallup to keep CeeDee Lamb company in the Dallas wideout rotation.
The Falcons do have other options. Receivers such as Byron Pringle of the Kansas City Chiefs or Washington Commanders’ flanker Cam Sims.
Like Gallup, both of those players are likely keen to prove they can handle a bigger workload in a passing game with room for them. The Falcons aerial attack for 2022 will continue to revolve around tight end Kyle Pitts, who is the main weapon after setting all sorts of records as a rookie.
Pitts needs help, though, so Fontenot needs to be smart in the market and find the hidden gems with upside to grow into something more. Gallup fits the bill, but not if the Falcons need to enter a bidding war with the Cowboys for his services.