The Cowboys completed a five-year, $62.5 million contract extension Sunday with wide receiver Michael Gallup, a source said, further clearing the way for wide receiver Amari Cooper’s trade to the Cleveland Browns to be processed Wednesday.
The deal features $27 million in guarantees, including a $10 million signing bonus.
Free agency effectively starts on Monday at 11 a.m. That is when NFL teams can enter formal negotiations and reach agreements in principle with other clubs’ unrestricted free agents. The Cowboys do not expect to be big external spenders.
Rather, as this deal exemplifies, they prefer to reserve their largest resources for re-signing their own talent.
“I see most of our money that would go toward free agency going to our current players,” executive vice president Stephen Jones said on Feb. 28 at the combine. “Now, that doesn’t mean that won’t change. We may come across a value on a player that we say, ‘Hey, this is just one we got to take.’
“So I don’t want to rule it out. But in general, it will go toward our players, and then we have to be efficient in the draft in terms of improving the team.”
Gallup, a 2018 third-round pick, has established himself as a vertical threat the past four seasons. His rookie contract was scheduled to expire Wednesday, but the club prioritized re-signing him despite a Jan. 2 ACL tear.
The Cowboys seemed to hint Saturday that a Gallup deal was close to being finalized when agreeing to trade Cooper to the Browns. In exchange for the four-time Pro Bowler, they received a fifth-round pick and upgraded a sixth-round choice in April’s draft.
Cooper’s developing departure will save the Cowboys $20 million in cash and $16 million in 2022 cap space. He would have been released this week if a trade partner was not found.
Now extended, Gallup will continue his recovery from Feb. 10 surgery. There is hope he will be ready sometime in September, but the recovery window is too tight to expect a full-scale role, if any, in Week 1. The Cowboys will monitor his progress in the months to come, as he works closely with director of rehabilitation Britt Brown. He should begin training camp on the Physically Unable to Perform list.
Gallup did well to land the extension following an adverse year.
Almost four months before the left ACL tear, he strained his left calf injury during the Sept. 9 opener and missed the next seven games. He finished with 35 catches for 445 yards and two touchdowns in eight games.
To date, Gallup’s most productive season came in 2019, which was his last extensive one with quarterback Dak Prescott. He caught 66 passes for 1,107 yards and six touchdowns, becoming the third player in Cowboys history to top 1,000 yards in his second NFL season. Bob Hayes and Drew Pearson were first.
Wide receiver CeeDee Lamb became the fourth last year.
Upon weighing long-term salary cap considerations, the Cowboys concluded they couldn’t responsibly include Cooper, Lamb and Gallup all on their 2022 roster. For a variety of reasons, Cooper failed to produce with the consistency of someone befitting his price tag.
How the Cowboys navigate free agency will shed light on their plans, but they are expected to invest a draft pick at wide receiver, perhaps one in the first three rounds.
With Gallup settled, Dallas has 21 players set to become free agents Wednesday. Those include defensive end Randy Gregory, wide receiver Cedrick Wilson, safety Jayron Kearse, defensive end Dorance Armstrong and linebacker Leighton Vander Esch. What sort of interest they garner on the open market will help dictate the Cowboys’ ability to re-sign them.
Of all positions, defensive end is the likeliest to draw the club’s largest spending in the days ahead.
Dallas needs a presence on the right side opposite DeMarcus Lawrence. Gregory flashed Pro Bowl ability last year before injuries slowed him, leading to an arthroscopic knee procedure in January. Likewise, Armstrong is a valuable part of the defensive line rotation while doubling as an extremely versatile special teamer.
Securing Gallup was the Cowboys’ latest maneuver in advance of free agency.
Last week, they placed the one-year, $10.9 million franchise tag on tight end Dalton Schultz. He was expected to command more than $11 million annually on the open market, league sources said, and the Cowboys were uncomfortable with their tight end situation if he left.
Tight end Blake Jarwin had hip resurfacing surgery in February, a source said. He may be the first active NFL player to undergo that procedure, which is more commonly seen in other sports. NHL player Ed Jovanovski and former Wimbledon tennis champion Andy Murray are examples of athletes who continued their careers after it.
The Cowboys released Jarwin and kicker Greg Zuerlein on Friday to save $3.3 million and $2.25 million in 2022 cap space, respectively. This came days after restructurings were done to quarterback Dak Prescott and right guard Zack Martin’s contracts that produced a little more than $22 million in space.
Along with Cooper, the team has explored trade talks on right tackle La’el Collins.
If he is traded or standard released, the cap savings wouldn’t be felt until 2023. Releasing him with a post-June 1 designation can save $10 million from the 2022 cap. In Cowboys offensive line coach Joe Philbin’s first year on staff, Collins missed the entire season to hip surgery. Philbin then lost Collins for five games early in 2021 after he failed the NFL’s drug test procedures.
Terence Steele performed well in Collins’ absence.
He now projects as the starting right tackle in 2022.
