Despite signing a multi-million dollar contract, and being in the prime of his career, one NFL wide receiver has decided he’s done playing football.
According to ESPN, veteran wide receiver Michael Gallup surprisingly retired Tuesday, just months after joining the Las Vegas Raiders on a reported one-year contract worth up to $3 million with the expectation of competing for the No. 3 receiver job.
The 28-year-old scored 21 touchdowns in his career, which spanned six seasons with the Dallas Cowboys from 2018-23 after being selected in the third round of the 2018 draft out of Colorado State.
According to ESPN, the news of Gallup’s sudden retirement comes as a surprise since it seemed he had his eyes set on a potential bounce-back season with the Raiders after participating in OTAs and minicamp.
The news was also strange considering Gallup himself did not announce his retirement on his social media. Instead, Gallup posted several photos on his Instagram Story of people complimenting him on his career.
Gallup was one of the NFL’s young, promising receivers, but he never quite returned to form after he tore his ACL during the 2021 season.
Gallup tallied 1,107 yards in his second season in 2019 and produced a solid third season in 2020, before suffering a calf injury in Week 1 of the 2021 season and then tearing his ACL in Week 17.
Despite the injury, the Cowboys rewarded Gallup with a five-year deal with a base of $57.5 million.
However, Gallup produced his then-lowest receiving yards in a season in the 2022 campaign with 424 while finding the end zone just four times, and followed with a career-worst 418 yards last season.
He tallied less than 10 receiving yards in five of his final six games last season and did not reach the 100-yard mark in any regular-season game in his final two campaigns.
Gallup finished his career with 266 catches for 3,744 yards along with 21 touchdowns.