The Raiders announced a slew of transactions on the evening of July 23rd, the night before training camp. One of them was that new WR Michael Gallup was placed on the Reserve/Retired list.
Gallup spent six seasons with the Dallas Cowboys before joining the Raiders this offseason, but he has decided to retire before ever taking a snap in the Silver and Black. He finishes his career with 266 receptions for 3,744 yards and 21 touchdowns. His best season came in 2019 when he recorded 66 catches for 1,107 yards and six touchdowns.
Sadly, injuries derailed Gallup's prime, as he missed seven games at the beginning of 2021 due to a calf injury, and then he tore his ACL later that season. Nobody knows why Gallup retired at this point, but for a 28-year-old to suddenly call it quits after two solid and predominately healthy seasons in a row leaves a bit for fans to ponder. Once a Raider, always a Raider!
Now this leaves a few questions for the Raiders receiving group and the roster as a whole. The consensus was that the team was going to keep Gallup and Jalen Guyton as the fourth and fifth receivers, and perhaps DJ Turner would serve as the sixth in a primarily special teams role. The cards have fallen in a drastically different way. Now, suddenly, the receiver room feels thin. Guyton is going to begin camp on the PUP list, and outside of the top three receivers (Davante Adams, Jakobi Meyers, and Tre Tucker), the team doesn't have a surefire guy at camp to run with the second team.
There are a slew of undrafted free agent wide receivers on the roster currently who are surely chomping at the bit for a roster spot, but that does not necessarily mean that they are ready for the NFL. Kristian Wilkerson is a familiar name on the team, as he began the year in 2023 on the active roster before being demoted back to the practice squad.
Given the salary cap space that the Raiders have, I would not be shocked to see them bring in a veteran to replace the one they just lost. The team is not likely going to swing for an unhappy receiver like CeeDee Lamb or Brandon Aiyuk, despite his connections to AP, but nothing is impossible. There are a handful of guys that are on the free agent market and could have some value, like Hunter Renfrow, Corey Davis, or Michael Thomas.
Renfrow feels like a safe and obvious choice because of his history with the franchise; he played for the team last season under coach Pierce. Corey Davis played for Luke Getsy at Western Michigan back in 2013, so they likely have some kind of relationship. Michael Thomas is the most impressive receiver remaining on the list but has been injury-prone for years and years, even though he showed flashes of his old self last season.
Julio Jones is available but does not have much left in the tank, and Russell Gage is a free agent but he didn't play a game last season due to an injury. The team could roll with five wide receivers and employ Brock Bowers more at WR. This means that another TE could make the team, and the Raiders have four rostered
It will be interesting to see what the team does to address the receiver room. Perhaps they feel confident in some of the in-house guys, but it is more likely that they will need to add somebody, and the sooner the better.