With the release of veteran Michael Gallup, wide receiver may seem like a need for the Cowboys this offseason.
A few weeks ago, the Cowboys released WR Michael Gallup to pick up some additional salary cap space. While one of the bigger names to depart from the roster this offseason, Gallup’s actual contributions over the last three years have been limited. This puts less pressure on Dallas to replace him, to the point that they may be safe leaning on internal promotion.
Once a 1,100-yard receiver in Dallas’ 2019 offense, Gallup has struggled with injuries and diminished skills over the last three years. It was an unfortunate end to what felt like a promising relationship with their 2018 third-round pick. But personal feelings aside, Gallup’s issues have significantly reduced his slice of the passing game pie lately. It’s part of why he’s now gone, and also why the Cowboys may not need to make a significant investment this offseason to fill his spot.
It helps to look at this in raw numbers. Here was how targets were distributed among Dallas’ full-time receiving options in 2023:
- CeeDee Lamb – 181
- Jake Ferguson – 102
- Brandin Cooks – 81
- Tony Pollard – 67
- Michael Gallup – 57
- Jalen Tolbert – 36
- Rico Dowdle – 22
- KaVontae Turpin – 18
- Luke Schoonmaker – 15
Despite being the “third receiver” in Dallas’ offense, Gallup was far from a primary option. In fact, his numbers may actually be inflated by the fact that Cooks had a slow start to the year due to a knee sprain and needed to find his rhythm with Dak Prescott and the offense. Of Gallup’s 57 targets, 32 of them came in the first six weeks. He only got 25 passes thrown his way over the next 11 games.
Lamb, Ferguson, and Cooks are all back in 2024. Ferguson will likely get more looks as a key player coming off a Pro Bowl (alternate) season. Assuming he doesn’t suffer much decline due to age, Cooks could get an increased share as well. The question is if their increased targets will come out of that huge bucket that went to Lamb last year, or from the guys beneath them.
Though RB Tony Pollard is gone, Dallas appears intent on replacing him with one of their early draft picks later this month. Even if that rookie doesn’t have Pollard’s receiving skills, he’ll still get a solid amount of targets just by virtue of running a balanced offense. Ferguson and Cooks may siphon off some of those looks, but you can still expect at least 50 passes for whoever is RB1 next year.
Let’s say that the top four, with whoever replaces Pollard at RB, maintain about the same allotment of targets. What do we do without a new body to replace Gallup? Well, let’s at those next four guys again:
- Jalen Tolbert – 36
- Rico Dowdle – 22
- KaVontae Turpin – 18
- Luke Schoonmaker – 15
Some target shares are more defined by positions and roles. That means guys like Dowdle and Schoonmaker may not get more looks just because they won’t be on the field much more than they were last year. Even when they do get a snap, they may still be asked to do more blocking than going out into a route.
Still, Schoonmaker could become more of a featured player in his second season. You can imagine there will be front office pressure for the second-round pick to get some usage. The Cowboys won’t want to take away from Ferguson’s volume as a rising star, so perhaps Schoonmaker could emerge if they utilize more 12 personnel formations (two tight ends).
Gallup’s targets could easily fall to the next men up at wide receiver. That’s Tolbert, Turpin, and perhaps second-year prospect Jalen Brooks. Especially when you consider that he was only getting 2-3 targets per game for two-thirds of the season, it’s not hard to see Tolbert absorbing much of that volume and some trickling down to the other guys. Essentially, Tolbert may become the new Gallup while Brooks becomes the new Tolbert. We could also see Turpin or even RB Deuce Vaughn getting more opportunities in the passing game, depending on how creative McCarthy’s going to be in 2024.
This isn’t to say that Dallas couldn’t benefit from a new WR. They might especially like having a true slot guy, allowing Lamb more freedom to go outside. While that dynamic could help the offense, that’s more about tweaking the system than replacing Gallup.
By the end of his run in Dallas, Michael Gallup’s role wasn’t really that significant. We’ll miss his circus catches and the way his chemistry with Prescott would occasionally shine, but overall he didn’t leave that big of a void in the passing game. Hopefully, a more recent third-round pick in Jalen Tolbert will step up and fill the gap. At the very least, it’s a departing player who doesn’t necessarily need replacing.
