Getty Cowboys wide receiver Michael Gallup will be sidelined for the beginning of the 2022 season.
The Dallas Cowboys could be missing one of their top wideouts for an extended period of time.
As Michael Gallup continues to recover from a torn ACL that he suffered in Week 17 of the 2021 season, Cowboys Vice President Stephen Jones has revealed a possible timetable regarding Gallup’s return from injury. As reported by Cowboys beat writer Clarence Hill Jr. on Tuesday, March 29, Jones expects Gallup to miss the first two or three games of the season.
“Cowboys VP Stephen Jones said receiver Michael Gallup could miss two or three games at the beginning of the season,” said Hill.
Gallup’s Increased Role Entering 2022
If Gallup were to miss the first three games of the season, his return wouldn’t occur until the beginning of October.
The 25-year-old receiver is expected to see an increased role in 2022 compared to previous seasons due to the departures of Amari Cooper and Cedrick Wilson. The four-year receiver caught 35 passes for 445 yards and two touchdowns during the 2021 season in nine games while dealing with a season-long calf injury.
Dallas re-signed Gallup to a five-year, $62.5 million contract extension earlier this month.
However, this won’t be the first time around that the Cowboys will rely heavily upon their former third-round draft pick. Prior to the Cowboys drafting CeeDee Lamb in the first round of the 2020 NFL draft, Gallup played the role of the No. 2 receiver alongside Cooper.
During a breakout 2019 campaign, Gallup caught 66 passes for 1,107 yards and six touchdowns. In fact, Gallup led the Cowboys in receiving yards per game (79.1), outpacing Cooper’s 74.3 receiving yards per game.
Gallup has remained a consistent presence over the course of his Cowboys career. According to Pro Football Focus, Gallup ranked 34th among all wideouts in offensive grade (74.0) in 2019 and 37th (73.4) this past season.
With Gallup potentially out during the first month of the regular season, expect the Cowboys to rely heavily on Lamb and tight end Dalton Schultz in the passing game. The next receivers up on the depth chart are Noah Brown and Simi Fehoko, who had a combined 16 receptions for 184 yards during the 2021 season.
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Cowboys’ Worst Signing is Gallup, Says Analyst
One particular analyst believes retaining Gallup — rather than Cooper — was the wrong decision for the Cowboys.
According to Bleacher Report’s Alex Kay, Gallup was Dallas’ worst free-agent signing of the offseason. Kay explains that Gallup’s recent ACL injury and his declining production is why the Cowboys should have retained Cooper instead of the younger and cheaper Gallup.
“Michael Gallup is a talented receiver, but he is coming off a torn ACL and was far less productive over the past four years than teammate Amari Cooper,” said Kay. “Instead of parting ways with Gallup and retaining Cooper, the Dallas Cowboys traded the latter to the Cleveland Browns and kept the former on a five-year, $57.5 million deal.
While Dallas had the luxury of dumping Cooper because of the emergence of 2020 first-round pick CeeDee Lamb, its receiving corps is no longer one of the NFL’s deepest and most dangerous.”
The Cowboys’ offense was the most dynamic unit of any team in the NFL in 2021. They led the league in points and yards while ranking second in passing yards.
However, now that two of their top receivers — Wilson and Cooper — have departed, Dallas’ offense appears to be a unit now lacking in firepower entering the 2022 season.