Gallup to attempt NFL return after brief retirement

The Las Vegas Raiders released wide receiver Michael Gallup from the reserve-retired list, as the 29-year-old intends to make an NFL comeback in 2025.

Gallup abruptly retired a day before the start of Raiders training camp last year. He stepped away from football after signing a one-year contract worth as much as $3 million with the Raiders on April 30, and participated in OTAs and minicamp.

Before Gallup joined the Raiders to compete for the team's No. 3 receiver spot, he was released by Dallas, where he had spent six seasons and totaled 266 catches for 3,744 yards and 21 touchdowns.

As a Cowboy, his best season came in 2019 when he caught 66 passes for 1,107 yards and six touchdowns in 14 games. It was the only season Gallup recorded at least 1,000 yards.

After Gallup tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee late in the 2021 season, the Cowboys signed him to a five-year, $57.5 million deal in 2022, but he didn't regain the form that saw him average 15.5 yards per catch.

He had 73 catches for 842 yards and six touchdowns and did not record a 100-yard game in the regular season in 2022 and 2023.

The Raiders also plan to release starting center Andre James at the start of the new league year, sources told ESPN, confirming an NFL Network report.

James signed a three-year, $24 million deal last offseason but played in 13 games (11 starts) during the 2024 campaign.

Las Vegas will save $1.5 million in cap space.

The move opens the door for Jackson Powers-Johnson to start at center. In his rookie year, Powers-Johnson played 400 offensive snaps at center and 504 at guard. He was among the nation's top centers coming out of Oregon, where he was a Rimington Trophy winner and a unanimous All-American in 2023.