Cowboys Contracts to Think About Cutting in the 2024 Offseason..

Parting with wide receiver Michael Gallup should be a relatively easy decision for the Cowboys, though they’d probably prefer a trade to an outright release.

Gallup signed a ive-year, $57.5 million extension just two years ago but has struggled to live up to his deal. He finished the 2023 season with just 34 catches for 418 yards and two touchdowns.

The 27-year-old didn’t do much better in 2022 (424 yards, 4 touchdowns), despite the fact that he was recovering from an ACL tear.

Dallas should try to get younger (and less expensive) at the other receiver spots because Lamb is about to enter the fifth and final season of his rookie contract and is likely to be a long-term element of the puzzle.

Lamb will eventually command one of the highest-paying receiver contracts in the league.

Gallup’s release with a post-June 1 designation would result in a $4.4 million dead-cap penalty but preserve $9.5 million in cap space.

Given that the Cowboys only recently acquired Brandin Cooks in the offseason, parting with him may be more difficult to accept. It wouldn’t be a complete disaster, either, because Dallas only received a 2023 fifth-round pick and a 2024 sixth-rounder in exchange.

Cooks saw a larger role in the offense than Gallup and was a respectable No. 2 receiver behind Lamb. But with 657 yards and eight touchdowns in the end, the 30-year-old’s stats weren’t all that spectacular.

With tight end Jake Ferguson stepping up as Prescott’s secondary target (761 yards, 5 TDs), Cooks should be considered expendable at his current price point. The oft-traded wideout is set to carry a cap hit of $10 million.

A contract restructuring or extension could make more sense for the Cowboys since Cooks is entering the final year of his contract. That would allow Dallas to keep the veteran mentor in its receiver room.

However, releasing Cooks with a post-June 1 designation would save $8 million in cap space.

t would be fairly surprising to see the Cowboys allow linebacker Leighton Vander Esch to finish the two-year contract he signed last offseason. For one, Dallas needs to improve its linebacker corps and a defense that has been vulnerable to the run over the past few seasons. Secondly, Vander Esch has struggled to stay healthy. He was limited to five games in 2023 by a neck injury.

Vander Esch has struggled to stay healthy. He was limited to five games in 2023 by a neck injury. Vander Esch was productive when healthy—he logged 30 tackles and a defensive touchdown in his five appearances—but Dallas simply can’t count on him to stay on the field. Given his history of neck injuries, Vander Esch may also have to consider stepping away from football. “The nature of his potential injury here causes me to really think longer term and beyond what it means for next week or beyond what it means for next month,” franchise owner Jerry Jones told 105.3 The Fan (h/t ESPN’s Todd Archer). Releasing Vander Esch would trigger a dead-cap hit of $2.3 million but also save $2.1 million in 2024 cap