The Dallas Cowboys refined their roster in the NFL Draft but fans understandably want more upgrades before training camp. The wide receiver position is an area where Dallas can improve, especially following the release of Michael Gallup.
For most of the offseason, the Cowboys have been hamstrung financially. That, of course, is their own doing. No NFL team in the year 2024 that doesn't have a single albatross contract on the books should be crying poverty. However, Jerry and Stephen Jones continue to prove they don't know how to manage the cap with an innovative perspective.
Jerry Jones' insistence on waiting until the last minute to extend homegrown stars is a prime example. The Cowboys' owner has utterly botched negotiations with CeeDee Lamb and Dak Prescott and chances are he does the same with Micah Parsons' deal next offseason.
Most teams would have a reason to celebrate receiving cap space by way of post-June 1 designations. That's what Dallas did with Gallup, but Jones' cap ineptitude gives fans little reason to be excited by the newfound cap room.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones botched Michael Gallup's release
Gallup was released in March with a post-June 1 designation, so the Cowboys have absorbed $9.5 million in added cap room. They now have $12.377 million at their disposal, according to OverThe Cap. It could be used to extend Lamb or Prescott, but there's a big caveat that makes the savings a double-edged sword: Gallup will count a whopping $8.7 million in dead money in 2025.
That is a lot of dead money. In fact, it's more than what Ezekiel Elliott is costing the Cowboys stemming from his release last March ($6.04 million). It looks even worse when you consider that Gallup will account for $4.35 million in dead money this season.
"The team essentially cannot move on from Gallup in 2024," is spot-on analysis. However, the player gave them no other choice.
When all is said and done, the dead money from Gallup's release will cost more than the actual savings. That's almost unheard of, but Cowboys fans can point to Jerry Jones' foolish decision to restructure Gallup's contract last offseason.
By kicking the can down the road (and waiting to extend Prescott and Lamb, but that's besides the point), Jones damaged Dallas' future cap. Thus, Jones reduced the potential savings from releasing Gallup, which felt inevitable given how he performed his first year removed from ACL surgery in 2022.
Extending an injured Gallup over keeping Amari Cooper felt like an historic gaffe at the time and it's aged exactly how fans feared it would. Jones doubling down on Gallup via a restructure further puts into question his overall knowledge of the salary cap and how to manage it.
The fact Gallup is on the books for almost $9 million next year is a disgrace. There's no other way to put it.
