Michael Gallup: I was in wrong “head space” last year, but still have the fire

Wide receiver Michael Gallup signed with the Commanders on 2025 and then met the media to explain why he was coming back to the NFL after retiring last year.

Gallup signed with the Raiders as a free agent in the spring and went through offseason work with the team before announcing his retirement. On Thursday, Gallup explained that he wasn’t “in the right head space” after parting ways with the Cowboys and that led him to walk away.

“The way I was let go from being in some place for so long and then jumping to a whole other team and not being able to process it,” Gallup said, via John Keim of ESPN.com. “I never went through that before. It was fast for me and I wasn’t there yet.”

Gallup said that he felt the urge to come back while watching games last season and vowed that he still has “a lot of fire up in me” despite the extended time away from the field. The Commanders are betting that’s the case and that Gallup will help their offense in 2025.