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When the Dallas Cowboys drafted CeeDee Lamb, the countdown was on to see if the team would be able to keep their deep receiver group intact. After visiting Cowboys training camp, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported there is some concern within the organization that the team will lose either Amari Cooper or Michael Gallup.
“The money crunch between Cooper and Gallup is real, and a calculation Dallas will continue to consider internally,” Fowler detailed. “Gallup is a 2022 free agent, and Cooper is owed $20 million, with a $22 million cap hit and $6 million in dead money. They’d love to keep both, but that might not be possible.”
Cooper is entering the second season of a five-year, $100 million deal but the Cowboys have an out in 2022, per Spotrac. The Cowboys would still have to take a $6 million cap hit to get out of the deal. Gallup’s situation is much more clear-cut as the receiver is entering the final season of his four-year, $3.5 million rookie contract. The wideout will hit free agency next offseason likely giving the Cowboys a tough decision to make.
The Cowboys Will Not Offer Gallup an Extension: Report
According to The Dallas Morning News’ Michael Gehlken, the Cowboys have decided not to offer Gallup, or any other player entering the final year of their deals, a contract extension. Instead, the Cowboys will be forced to make a decision after the 2021 season ends as Gallup enters free agency.
“Wide receiver Michael Gallup and defensive end Randy Gregory are among the Dallas players entering the final season of their contract,” Gehlken detailed. “Speaking on background, two Cowboys officials said that the team won’t extend either before this season — or for that matter, any other impending unrestricted free agent. Such talks aren’t expected to occur until early 2022. The Cowboys see dust in the air with several players’ futures. They want to wait for it to settle.”
Gallup admitted he thinks about his future, but the receiver indicated the main focus is his play on the field. With Prescott back under center, it will be interesting to see how the quarterback divvies up targets among his top three receivers.
“You’re not going to get that contract if you don’t do what you’re supposed to on the field first,” Gallup noted in June, per USA Today. “I think, one thing to think about, you can’t talk anything into the future. You’ve just got to do what you’re supposed to do right now. So for me, it’s just going out there helping this club win ball games, have fun doing it. Obviously, I’d love to stay here, love to be in Dallas, love the community, love this city, love the fans, so it’s up in the air, but I want to be right here. So we’ll see.”
The Cowboys View Keeping Both Gallup & Cooper as ‘Unreleastic’: Report
The emergence of Lamb has made keeping both Cooper and Gallup more of a luxury than a necessity. Prescott’s extension means the Cowboys are going to have to cut costs at other positions. This is partly why the Cowboys view keeping Cooper and Gallup as “unrealistic,” per Gehlken.
“The five-year, $100 million contract that Cooper signed in 2020 was always a two-year, $40 million deal that would then get interesting,” Gehlken added. “Next year, it gets interesting. The team must decide whether to retain Cooper or Gallup as its primary receiver opposite CeeDee Lamb. While the Cowboys would like to retain both Cooper and Gallup in 2022, they have accepted that as unrealistic, given the market they anticipate will await Gallup in free agency. Moving on from Cooper would save $20 million in cash and $16 million in 2022 cap space. Moving on from Gallup likely would net the team a 2023 compensatory draft pick, possibly one in the third round.”
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