What really compounds the Galloway signing was the report that came out a couple years afterwards that the pro personnel department recommended signing an unheralded free agent WR from Kansas City, but the Cowboys brain trust felt they needed more of a proven commodity to replace the star power Michael Irvin provided. The proven commodity was obviously Joey Galloway. The relatively unknown FA WR was Joe Horn, who went on have 4 Pro Bowl seasons over the next 5 years in New Orleans.
It makes you wonder what could have been if we had made just a few different decisions. The year before we let an ascending Patrick Jeffers get away in favor of signing Rocket Ismail. Carolina was all too happy to sign Jeffers to replace the departed Ismail, which should have been the first warning sign that were were miscalculating their value relative to one another.
Our salary cap situation was already in a precarious position in those days, and signing Raghib Ismail to a big money deal in 1999, followed by an even bigger money deal to Galloway in 2000 didn't make it any better.
It's hard not to wonder what difference a starting line up featuring less expensive / more productive players like Joe Horn and Patrick Jeffers in place of Joey Galloway and Rocket Ismail would have made. The cap difference between the two could have been used to shore up a roster that had talented but aging starters and little to no depth.
Those were some rough years.
