The Michael Gallup era is finally gone. The Cowboys announced on March 15, 2024, that Gallup and linebacker Leighton Vander Esch would be released due to their inability to locate a trade partner.
“The Dallas Cowboys are moving on from Michael Gallup after six seasons,” Michael Gehlken of The Dallas Morning News wrote in an article headlined “Dallas Cowboys make deep cut, release WR Michael Gallup” on March 15.
A person with knowledge of the incident told The Dallas Morning News that the team notified Gallup’s agency on Friday that the deep-threat wide receiver had been dismissed. Next season, Gallup was owed a salary of $8.5 million. If he stayed on the roster on Sunday, $4 million of that would become completely guaranteed, Gehlken continued.
Dallas Cowboys are letting go of some veterans, including Vander Esch, whose physical designation failed, is being released by the squad.
In a series of comments posted on X on March 15, ESPN’s Todd Archer stated, “The Cowboys have informed LB Leighton Vander Esch he will be released, per a source, with a failed physical designation.” “His neck ailment kept him out of the last 12 games of the previous season.
With 176 tackles in 2018, Leighton Vander Esch broke the franchise rookie record and was selected to the Pro Bowl. Before the draft and throughout, clubs had concerns about his neck, but he was a crucial member of the defense throughout the years, particularly the last two with his ability to to line people up and read plays.
meanwhile, Gallup is free to sign with another team as a free agent. Dallas now has an immediate need to find a third receiver to play alongside CeeDee Lamb and Brandin Cooks. Jalen Tolbert is an internal candidate for this expanded role in the offense.
“The Cowboys gave Michael Gallup permission to seek a trade but nothing materialized,” Archer detailed in a March 15 message on X. “If he had been on the roster through Saturday, $4 million of his $8.5 million base salary would have been guaranteed. Wondered if a paycut could have been an option but Cowboys have a WR need.”
