Coming into training camp, there were some question marks about the wide receiver group of the Dallas Cowboys. Dallas traded away Amari Cooper this offseason to the Cleveland Browns and Cedrick Wilson Jr. left as a free agent, signing with the Miami Dolphins.
One positive for the Cowboys in free agency was being able to re-sign Michael Gallup. They agreed to a five-year, $57.5 million deal, but the Cowboys assumed that they wouldn’t have him in the lineup early in the season.
During their matchup against the Arizona Cardinals in Week 17, Gallup tore his ACL. He battled injuries all season as he also dealt with an ankle ailment that led to him appearing in only eight games.
One of the players that the Cowboys signed to help replace all of their departures was James Washington. Unfortunately, Washington broke his foot early in training camp and will be sidelined for the foreseeable future.
As things currently stand, the Cowboys have a lot of inexperience behind CeeDee Lamb, their new No. 1 target. Third-round pick Jalen Tolbert should be in for a pick role with Noah Brown, undrafted free agent Dennis Houston, Simi Fehoko and KaVonte Turpin.
“I feel better than when we initially did in training camp,” owner Jerry Jones said of the group. “I really like the entire gambit of our receivers. We’ve got some things to scratch, head-scratch, with the numbers there. We certainly at this juncture don’t have room for an outside receiver.”
However, the group could be receiving a huge boost. According to Jones, Gallup is going to open the season on the 53-man roster, meaning he will not be put on the Physically Unable to Perform list and sidelined for the first four games of the season.
“We just don’t want to do anything that would put him in some kind of category that would limit us from getting him in the first game,” Jones said.
That is certainly a positive development as Gallup himself said last month it was unrealistic to believe that he could be ready to play in Week 1 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. However, if he is not placed on the PUP list, there is a chance that he could be out there.
His rehab was recently stepped up, as he is now running routes. That is excellent news for the Cowboys, as their wide receiver position needs some help behind Lamb. Even if he can’t play in Week 1, knowing he can come back later in the month and not be sidelined until Week 5 is something Gallup and the franchise will be very happy about.
