The Dallas Cowboys are releasing veteran wide receiver Michael Gallup, Michael Gehlken of The Dallas Morning News reported Friday. Dallas will designate the move as a post-June 1st release and save $9.5 million in cap space for this season.
The Cowboys drafted Gallup as a third-round pick in 2018, and the wide receiver has played in Dallas for the past six seasons. Gallup’s best season came in 2019, when he totaled over 1,000 receiving yards for the first and only time in his career, including a career-high six touchdowns.
However, Gallup tore his ACL during the 2021 season, and he hasn’t been the same player since with just 842 receiving yards in 31 games since 2022. Gallup was set to enter the third year of a five-year, $57 million extension in 2024, but instead Dallas will be on the hook for $8.7 million in 2025.
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Additionally, Gehlken reports that Dallas will also release linebacker Leighton Vander Esch with a failed physical designation. Vander Esch was Dallas’s 2018 first-round pick, but he dealt with injuries and played in just five games last season, missing the last 12 contests with a neck injury.
