Report: Dallas Cowboys prioritizing another player over Amari Cooper

ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported on Friday morning that the Dallas Cowboys are likely to release wide receiver Amari Cooper. The Cowboys have some work to do in the offseason, with holes on the roster and not a lot of cap space to maneuver. According to a report by Yahoo’s Charles Robinson, while the Cowboys plan to release Cooper, they are prioritizing pending free agent Michael Gallup.

“Part of the plan here, I’m told from a league source, is buttoning up a long term deal for Michael Gallup,” Robinson tweeted in response to the Cooper news. “#Cowboys felt it was an either/or and are making Gallup the priority.”

Gallup dealt with a few injuries this past season, appearing in just nine games for the Cowboys. He suffered an injury in a loss during Week 1 and did not return until Week 10. Then, in Week 17, Gallup went down with a torn ACL, officially ending his season. In the nine games he did play in, Gallup totaled 35 receptions for 445 yards and two touchdowns.

This past season was the fourth of Gallup’s NFL career, and he has been with the Cowboys for each season. Dallas selected Gallup in the third round of the 2018 NFL Draft out of Colorado State. As a rookie in 2018, he had 33 receptions for 507 yards and two touchdowns. In 2019, he has 1,107 yards and six touchdowns on 66 receptions. During the 2020 season, Gallup caught 59 passes for 843 yards and five touchdowns.

In his four-year NFL career, Gallup has 193 receptions for 2,902 yards and 15 touchdowns in 55 regular season games. During two playoff games in 2018, he caught eight passes for 137 yards and a touchdown.

The Cowboys choosing Gallup over Cooper is likely a salary cap-related move

Cooper is due $20 million fully guaranteed on March 20, the fifth day of the new league year. The Cowboys choosing to release Cooper opens up a significant amount of cap space, and allows the team more room to maneuver throughout the rest of the offseason.

If the Cowboys do indeed sign Gallup to a long-term contract extension, it likely won’t come as expensive as Cooper counted against the cap. Gallup just underwent surgery for his ACL injury around a month ago. His status for the beginning of next season is uncertain.

Injury or not, Gallup likely won’t cost nearly as much as Cooper. The Cowboys also have CeeDee Lamb under contract at wide receiver. Tight end Dalton Schultz is also set to become a free agent, so some of the money saved by choosing Gallup over Cooper could aid a deal getting done on that front, too.