Cowboys’ Jerry Jones noncommittal on WR Michael Gallup’s future: ‘We need to sit down’
Cowboys fans have learned to rightfully take anything owner Jerry Jones says with a grain tablespoon fully-loaded 18-wheeler truckload of salt.
The club’s seeming willingness to let eight-time Pro Bowl tackle Tyron Smith simply walk out the door (or at least the casual manner in which they’re letting that storyline float around in the ether) after making some nebulous, impossible-to-actually-quantify-but-it’ll-look-great-on-T-shirts-in-the-pro-shop “all in” proclamation is ample, maddening proof.
But Jones is even waffling- at least publicly- on what looks to be, on the surface, the easiest slam-dunk decision of the Cowboys’ offseason.
When asked during his annual bus powwow at the scouting combine about wide receiver Michael Gallup’s future with the club, the 81-year-old was predictably noncommittal.
“[We] Don’t have a decision that we would like to talk about right now,” Jones told reporters. “It’s one that we’ll be going over with him. Nothing that we would say without him being involved. We need to sit down and go over his stuff with him before we talk about what we’re going to do or not do.”
While that’s the fair and prudent thing to say out loud, all logical indications are that the Cowboys should likely cut the six-year veteran following a decline in production that’s now lasted four years, since his only 1,000-yard campaign in 2019.
Gallup is currently slated to count $13.85 million against the 2024 salary cap, but the team could save $9.5 million if they designate him a post-June 1 cut.
The fact that he’s caught just 73 balls for 842 yards in the two years since his ACL injury makes it tough for some to justify even the $4 million he’s due if he’s on the Dallas roster on March 18.
But alternatively, there’s also sentiment that a rapidly-shrinking wide receiver market could make Gallup a trade target for some needy team. He could actually earn the Cowboys something in return if they just hold on long enough… and do a little salesmanship in the meantime.
Jones insisted that the former third-round draft pick has meant far more to the Cowboys than his recent stats suggest. He pointed to the five-year, $57 million contract the front office gave him just three months after his injury as evidence.
“What he means is reflected in his salary and the deal that we gave him,” Jones explained. “And that’s exactly the way we felt about him, feel about him.”
An offer for Cowboys fans
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But Jones knows there is a long list of Cowboys players who are similarly up for review in the coming days, weeks, and months.
And he can’t allow how he felt about Michael Gallup as the 2019 player or how he feels about Michael Gallup as the 2024 person to be the deciding factor in what happens moving forward.
“What we need to do today, relative to what’s available, we’ll have to really consider it. We’ve got to really give that consideration,” the owner said. “We’ve got some other considerations we have to consider right now, too. We’ll go over that with him.”
