Cowboys’ Michael Gallup passes physical, will be on roster for start of season

It was perhaps just a formality, but the Dallas Cowboys got a bit of good news today after they made the initial cutdown to 53 players.

For some time, the team has been signalling that Gallup would be ready sooner than the fifth game of the season. That relates to the first time a player who started the season on IR or PUP would be able to participate. For a few weeks the hints have been coming hot and heavy out of the Dallas organization that he was believed to be able to beat that. Further, even if he is not able to get on the field before then, he can still participate in practices. Given that he is recovering from a bad ACL injury and was only seen doing some rehab work late in training camp, that might be required just to get him into game shape and knock all that rust off.

Gallup’s availability is especially crucial for the Cowboys as they only have one proven receiver beside him in CeeDee Lamb. As you are probably aware, outside of Noah Brown’s limited history, none of the other receivers on the roster have caught a single pass in an NFL game. While players like Jalen Tolbert, Simi Fehoko, and Dennis Houston show promise, they still lack experience. That can be a difference maker in the NFL.

Hopefully the team will not push Gallup to get out there before he is truly ready. But when he does, he brings 193 receptions and 15 touchdowns to the table. That is very valuable. The team made a big investment in him with his new contract despite the injury. It looks like that may start to pay dividends earlier than we had hoped.