Making cap space is the biggest obstacle the Dallas Cowboys will face in the 2024 offseason out of all of them. Stars Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb, and Micah Parsons are among the players the Cowboys need to negotiate deals for; we can debate which is more crucial in the long run. All of that, though, is meaningless if a short-term reduction in the cap is not possible. And the most effective way to do so is with Cowboys Michael Gallup.
To aid in that, there are a few clear-cut candidates for an exit. However, wide receiver Gallup stands out as the most notable, having received the most attention this season despite never living up to the five-year, $57.5 million contract he signed in 2021. The Cowboys would still be responsible for a portion of Gallup’s salary even if they decided to cut him after June 1 and save $9.5 million.
They have a cleaner break with a trade, and Bleacher Report is proposing one that would enable the Cowboys to at least take a chance on a young player to take Gallup’s place, albeit at a significant draft asset cost. The Cowboys would trade Treylon Burks, a 2022 first-round pick who has had difficulty settling in Tennessee, to the Titans in exchange for Gallup and a third-round pick in the deal that B/R is putting up.
Ranchers Most Likely Dead in Dallas, Michael Gallup
Gallup has virtually certainly played his final game in Dallas. If that’s the case, then his final game, in which he caught six passes for 103 yards in the playoff loss to Green Bay, could be considered his most productive performance. Gallup’s 2023 season has just one 100-yard game, and it was his first since 2021.
Gallup spent his least productive season as a Dallas player during his sixth season there. He only gained 24.6 yards per game on average, which is a decline from the previous five seasons.
In light of that, the following are the details of B/R’s trade to the Titans:
“We Would Love to See This Hypothetical Trade: WR Michael Gallup, WR Treylon Burks’ third-round selection in 2025
“In this fictitious situation, the Tennessee Titans, a team with plenty of cap space ($74 million) but little depth at receiver, would face the Cowboys. In this scenario, the Titans receiver Treylon Burks, who has failed to live up to his draft status in Tennessee, would be acquired by Dallas by pairing Gallup with a future third-round pick.
The Cowboys would benefit from Burks’ downfield prowess and his willingness to forgo a costly veteran contract in favor of a rookie one.
Worth Clearing Gallup’s Money for the Third-Round Pick?
In order to avoid having to pay Gallup, the Cowboys would be forfeiting a third-round pick in the following season’s draft.
Burks is not expected to play much because in the past two seasons, he has only appeared in 15 games and caught 49 passes for 665 yards. Pro Football Focus gave him a grade of 52.4, placing him just 119th out of 128 receivers who were graded in 2023. Despite his setbacks, he remains a 6-foot-2 former first-team All-SEC receiver with 4.55 speed and a $3.9 million cap hit.
Burks is a risk worth taking. Additionally, if it frees the Cowboys from the Gallup contract, he might be worth a third-round pick as well.
Veteran sports writer Sean Deveney works for Heavy.com, covering the NBA and NFL. With over 20 years of NBA coverage experience, including 17 years as the lead NBA reporter for Sporting News, he has been writing for Heavy since 2019. Seven nonfiction books, including “Fun City,” “Before Wrigley became Wrigley,” and “Facing Michael Jordan,” have been written by Deveney. Additional details regarding Sean Deveney
