National Football League

Cowboys' Dak Prescott: Michael Gallup of old returning

Updated May. 26, 2023 7:31 p.m. ET

The Dallas Cowboys made a handful of pivotal moves on offense last offseason. Those decisions included trading veteran wide receiver Amari Cooper to the Cleveland Browns and re-signing wide receiver Michael Gallup to a five-year, $57.5 million deal despite him suffering a torn ACL near the end of the 2021 NFL season.

Gallup's recovery forced him to miss the first three games of 2022, and he never seemed to get in a groove thereafter. Has he finally turned a corner? The early signs are good.

Gallup told ESPN on Friday that he feels "springy again," while quarterback Dak Prescott discussed how the 27-year-old wideout is getting back to being the player he was pre-injury.

"Just for him to get into this offseason, get his body right, and now just starting to come back into who Michael Gallup is and feel himself, I think what you just saw is a couple of plays right there of doing that consecutively," Prescott said. "But that's a guy that I've got a lot of trust in. I know who he is, and more importantly, how he works and comes to work each and every day to get better. He's getting his feet under him, and he's going to be better."

Across the 14 games that he appeared in last season, Gallup totaled just 39 receptions for 424 yards (a career-low 10.9 yards per reception) and four touchdowns. Gallup has spent his entire five-year NFL career in Dallas. His most productive season came in 2019, when Gallup totaled 1,107 receiving yards on 16.8 yards per reception.

Since trading Cooper, the Cowboys have seen CeeDee Lamb become their undisputed No. 1 receiver and a Pro-Bowler in each of the last two seasons. This offseason, Dallas lost its No. 2 and 3 pass-catchers from last season — tight end Dalton Schultz and wide receiver Noah Brown — but also acquired veteran receiver Brandin Cooks from the Houston Texans, who the outgoing Cowboys ironically signed with.

Gallup sees himself becoming a linchpin for the Cowboys' passing attack once again with a healthy offseason eventually under his belt.

"I'm very confident I'll be that guy, for sure," Gallup said. "Very confident. It just feels different. It's kind of like in the air. I ain't going to lie to you. I'm smiling every time I walk in that facility."

Dallas is coming off a 12-5 season that saw it reach the NFC divisional round before losing to the San Francisco 49ers.

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