National Football League

One of the Cowboys' key 2023 additions has been in Dallas all along

Updated Aug. 10, 2023 4:15 p.m. ET

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David Helman

Dallas Cowboys Insider

Somehow, Michael Gallup has achieved the rare feat of being both an established veteran and a key newcomer.

It's strange territory for a player who is, in relative terms, an elder statesman on the Cowboys' roster. If you can believe it, only six players on this team have been around longer than Gallup, originally drafted in 2018.

At the same time, with another year between him and a brutal ACL tear, the Cowboys are hoping to get back a Gallup they haven't seen in quite a while.

"Just coming off, really any injury, you've got to make sure you have your mentals right," Gallup told the Around The NFL Podcast podcast earlier this week. "Everybody says they're good, but there's always something a little bit up under the table that you're not trying to express to everybody."

If you rewind the clock, that makes perfect sense. Gallup went down in the penultimate game of the 2021 season, tearing the ligament while making a 21-yard touchdown catch in Week 17 against Arizona. It's a credit to Gallup that he was far enough along in his recovery to participate at training camp in 2022, though he acknowledged at the time that being ready for the season opener was not a reasonable expectation. It's impressive that he was able to play as quickly as Oct. 2 against Washington — nine months to the day after getting hurt. But as Gallup acknowledged, being on the field isn't the only variable in the equation.

"That was my big problem," he said. "I said I was good. Mentally, I really wasn't, but physically I knew I was good. So, I could go out there and do enough, but it wasn't enough to be out there. I shouldn't have been playing like that."

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Gallup's assessment of his season confirms what looked obvious on film. He lacked the explosiveness and athleticism that helped him earn a $57.5 million contract, and he never seemed to be on the same page with Dak Prescott. Across 14 games, managed 424 yards on 39 catches — a mere three catches for 30 yards per week.

Prescott's first interception of the playoff loss to San Francisco, when 49ers corner Deommodore Lenoir beat Gallup badly to the end of his route, came to be emblematic of both players' seasons.

Enough with the reminiscing, though. Here in the present, roughly 19 months have passed between when Gallup initially went down and now, where he's going through his first fully healthy camp in two years.

The results look like what the Cowboys have been hoping for. Across two weeks of camp, Gallup has shown the physicality and burst he had become known for, with some added ability to get behind coverage.

"I'm in a whole ‘nother league right now," he said. "I feel good, I feel great. After practice, I'm not just trying to find some crutches or something. I'm good." 

What's more, the Cowboys weren't content to simply count on Gallup's return this time around. At this time last year, the team had traded Amari Cooper to Cleveland and had little in the way of proven commodities behind CeeDee Lamb, aside from hoping for Gallup's recovery as well as the development of draft pick Jalen Tolbert.

This time around, Brandin Cooks is on hand, after the Cowboys opted to trade for a receiver rather than away from one. That, combined with the rest of the pieces in place, provides plenty of cause for renewed optimism.

And if anyone is sleeping on Gallup right now, the hope is they won't be for long. "That's how it's kind of always been, all my years here playing for the Cowboys," Gallup said. "I've just kind of been that third wide receiver, little outlier — but if they get doubled, that means I've got to be one-on-one. So that's easy pickings for me."

David Helman covers the Dallas Cowboys for FOX Sports. He previously spent nine seasons covering the Cowboys for the team's official website. In 2018, he won a regional Emmy for his role in producing "Dak Prescott: A Family Reunion" about the quarterback's time at Mississippi State. Follow him on Twitter at @davidhelman_.

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David Helman