Disheartening: Cowboys Urged to Cut Ties With another talent

It is expected that things will get ugly for the Dallas Cowboys as their offseason settles in. Another 12-5 record and yet another shocking playoff flop will do that to a team. Mike McCarthy and the coaching staff should be in for a rough few weeks. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and the front office should be in for a rough few weeks. And the team’s accountants should be in for a rough few months, meaning that some of the team’s higher-ticket players on the Cowboys roster — namely wide receiver Michael Gallup — will be in for a rough time, too.

Gallup was emblematic of all that went wrong for the Cowboys this season. He was a major disappointment during the season, with 34 catches and just 418 yards, the fewest of his career. He posted shiny numbers in the Cowboys’ wild-card loss to the Packers (six catches and 103 yards) but did not make a catch until the Packers were down 20-0, and he had only two first-half catches for 25 yards.

Now, with the Cowboys facing a massive payroll crunch, Gallup could be on the firing line. That’s the sentiment from Bleacher Report this week, which tabbed the Cowboys players most likely to be “cap casualties” and put Gallup at the top of the list.

Michael Gallup Has Not Lived Up to Paycheck

Here’s how Kris Knox of B/R sees the situation for the Cowboys, who are already $16 million over the salary cap (per OverTheCap.com) heading into the offseason and will need to be conscious of every dollar.

“Wide receiver Michael Gallup has struggled to meet expectations since the Dallas Cowboys signed him to a five-year, $57.5 million extension in 2022. While he’s still capable of making the occasional big play, Gallup clearly ceded the No. 2 receiver role to Brandin Cooks this season.

“Jerry Jones rarely admits to poor investments, but it’s time to either restructure Gallup’s deal or pull the plug entirely. Releasing him with a post-June 1 designation would save $9.5 million in cap space while triggering a dead-cap hit of only $4.4 million,” Knox wrote in the January 16 story.

While the Cowpokes have one of the top wideouts in the association in star CeeDee Sheep, they’ve battled to find a player who possesses all the necessary qualities as a subsequent choice. Cooks is strong, however he is 30 years of age and more qualified to possess a No. 3 role. Gallup has the speed and downfield capacity to be a No. 2, which is the reason they disposed of Amari Cooper (who bested 1,100 yards every one of the beyond two seasons), yet Gallup still can’t seem to make an interpretation of his capacity into creation.

Ranchers Have Costly Choices Ahead

The Ranchers don’t have the advantage of allowing Gallup to pull off underachieving any longer. They can’t manage the cost of slip-ups like allowing Cooper to walk, nor could they at any point look out for draft picks like 2022 third-rounder Jalen Tolbert.

That is on the grounds that for the Cattle rustlers, a ton of the free snacks they’ve had over the most recent few years won’t be free any longer.

Dallas requirements to pay Dak Prescott, who, notwithstanding driving the season finisher calamity we recently saw, may as yet get the most extravagant agreement in NFL history this offseason. His backloaded contract hits $59.5 million next season, and that should be modified into a drawn out bargain.

The Cattle rustlers likewise need to make Micah Parsons and Sheep among the most generously compensated players at their positions. The combined salary of Parsons and Lamb last year was $9 million due to their rookie contracts. That will change since the Cattle rustlers need to give out expansions.

Dallas should take up some slack somewhere else. Also, Gallup is the top applicant.