NFL.Com: Dallas Cowboys agree to terms with La'el Collins

[Riggo#44]

Couple of thoughts here. 

 

1. This kid might be the second coming of Charles Manson but there is zero proof of that.  He was considered a top 10/15 player in this draft, before all of this broke.  You don't get rated that high, on a draft board, as an OL,  if you have question marks in your past.  This kid has really done nothing wrong and for the record, he has been cleared as a suspect in this case. 

 

Maybe it's the ripple effect of the Aaron Hernandez situation--but I believe he was "only questioned" at the beginning of the investigation as well, so it's not surprising so many teams sprinted away from him like women did from me in college. However, that being said, he was still involved in a murder investigation. We have no answers, or knowledge, of the nature of the questions or investigation--but he was still involved in some way. That's enough for me to say "no thanks," especially with St. McCloughan trying to alter a long-toxic environment at Redskins Park. 

[ABQCOWBOY]

Dude is borderline exonerated from the case.  Let's stop pretending they just signed this guy for a 50 million dollar contract.  It was 1.76 million.

 

Over three years.  587K a season. 

Maybe it's the ripple effect of the Aaron Hernandez situation--but I believe he was "only questioned" at the beginning of the investigation as well, so it's not surprising so many teams sprinted away from him like women did from me in college. However, that being said, he was still involved in a murder investigation. We have no answers, or knowledge, of the nature of the questions or investigation--but he was still involved in some way. That's enough for me to say "no thanks," especially with St. McCloughan trying to alter a long-toxic environment at Redskins Park. 

 

 

From what I've read and heard, the police wanted him to confirm his whereabouts, for the time of the murder, confirm if the child was or was not his and ask him about the people the women new etc.  Because of his previous relationship, he had a unique knowledge of her inner circle.   I agree, teams had no way of knowing exactly what was going on for sure but with a 7th round pick, I have to believe that is worth the gamble there.  Very little risk in just drafting him regardless IMO.  How many 7th rounders actually make a team?  I just think teams missed the boat on this guy.  Somebody should have drafted him. 

[SkinsGuy]

ABQCOWBOY Writes:

 

This kid might be the second coming of Charles Manson but there is zero proof of that. He was considered a top 10/15 player in this draft, before all of this broke. You don't get rated that high, on a draft board, as an OL, if you have question marks in your past. This kid has really done nothing wrong and for the record, he has been cleared as a suspect in this case.

Well, it might be this too:

[coolbeans]

One or two character concerns are fine, but the Cowboys now have five: Dez Bryant, Josh Brent, Greg Hardy (who already has had problems with at least 1 teammate), La'El Collins, and Randy Gregory.

 Wow, so they have an Pro bowl WR who hasn't had any type of incident in several years, a DT who paid his debt to society and actually just retired, a pro bowl DE who had his charges dropped and got on a teammate for loafing during conditioning drills, a rookie top 15 talent OL who did absolutely nothing except he used to date a girl who was killed right before the draft, and a rookie top 10 talent DE who smoked weed and has admitted to acting immaturely and make poor decisions in the past.  I think they will live with these minor issues when you look at the infusion of top notch talent.

ABQCOWBOY Writes:

 

Well, it might be this too:

 

 

That was from 2012 and the coach put his name on the list as motivation after he skipped a class.

[ABQCOWBOY]

ABQCOWBOY Writes:

 

Well, it might be this too:

 

 

I believe that this was reported as photoshop but the truth of the matter is that you are correct.  It could be this.  I think that this is the risk you take whenever you draft a player.  It could be that for any of these young men.  Having said this, I would just restate the fact that prior to the murder, Collins was generally regarded as a top 10/15 talent.  I think that if Collins had issues, he would not have been regarded so highly. 

 

All of this is side bar to me.  While I acknowledge that this could be the case, the general decision to bypass this player in the draft was a poor one IMO.  It makes sense to draft the guy, IMO, based on the information we have.  Even if what you say turns out to be true, the business case for drafting Collins was there.  Somebody should have spent a 7th round pick on him IMO.

[Riggo#44]

 Wow, so they have an Pro bowl WR who hasn't had any type of incident in several years, a DT who paid his debt to society and actually just retired, a pro bowl DE who had his charges dropped and got on a teammate for loafing during conditioning drills, a rookie top 15 talent OL who did absolutely nothing except he used to date a girl who was killed right before the draft, and a rookie top 10 talent DE who smoked weed and has admitted to acting immaturely and make poor decisions in the past.  I think they will live with these minor issues when you look at the infusion of top notch talent.

 

Greg Hardy, apparently, is a minor issue now. You know how he got off? He paid the girl he beat the crap out of on multiple occasions not to show up for court. The guy is a scumbag human being. There is no excuse for him. Someone who smokes pot right before the combine, when he knows he's going to get tested, is an idiot, with poor decision making skills. You can minimize the concerns all you want--but they are still, actual, legitimate concerns. Didn't Dez say he was going to hold out if he got tagged?

 

I enjoy good debate--especially with civil, intelligent posters like ABQ--but this is homerism at it's finest.

[jflow78]

I don't care about the other 31 teams. You want to talk about the Panthers, or the Bengals, or the Texans? Fine, they were all stupid too. But them being stupid doesn't make the redskins less stupid....

No, but we can talk about the Patriots, Seattle, Green Bay, and all the other teams who are regularly great and didn't waist a 7th on the guy either. If he was drafted in the 4-7 range, he holds out. That's ALL we really know. You can attempt to rewrite the future and assume that Collins wouldn't have held out, but you don't know that anymore than we know he would have. 

 

So, it's not as if you're automatically right because you say it was a ploy. The reality it, IT'S HAPPENED BEFORE. So, why not now? If he stays out one more year, he hits millions sooner than if he were to play as a UDFA for the year.

 

Sorry, but the "i'm going to sit out the year and re-enter the draft" ploy was one of the most obvious bluffs in history. Many of us scoffed at it from the outset.

 

If you don't believe it, you might want to consider this quote (Peter King)....

You want to talk about Peter King? Yes, because, like the Panthers, Bengals, and Texans, what he says and does is always right? The reality IS, he didn't have a choice once he went undrafted. So YEAH, he signed a contract ASAP while teams still had some bonus money to give. 

 

If he'd been drafted he could have held out the year, Greg Aiello, spokesman of the NFL, even said that. Peter King can draw whatever conclusions he wants, but he's still ignoring facts and is an idiot.

 

Last time a team chose not to listen to the words of a player entering the draft, it wound up costing them their first round draft pick re: Bo Jackson....

and the rest of what C12 said.

 

What are the concerns with Collins?

I don't think he was saying Collins is a concern, but the Cowboys have several players with troubled pasts (some just a few months ago) and assuming they're all going to make it through the season is questionable (especially since Hardy is only going to play 6 games this year).

 

Well, 7 games if you include them losing their first playoff game again. 

[Riggo#44]

All of this is side bar to me.  While I acknowledge that this could be the case, the general decision to bypass this player in the draft was a poor one IMO.  It makes sense to draft the guy, IMO, based on the information we have.  Even if what you say turns out to be true, the business case for drafting Collins was there.  Somebody should have spent a 7th round pick on him IMO.

 

You could be right, but the reality of the situation is, we won't know for at least a year. More likely 2-3. This is all quasi-educated opinion based on fandom and limited information we have floating around the Twittershpere.

[SkinsGuy]

That was from 2012 and the coach put his name on the list as motivation after he skipped a class.

The fact he had to go to that tactic at all should be telling.

And I don't believe it was one time. You don't do that unless someone has a history of poor behavior/decisions.

[ABQCOWBOY]

You could be right, but the reality of the situation is, we won't know for at least a year. More likely 2-3. This is all quasi-educated opinion based on fandom and limited information we have floating around the Twittershpere.

 

 

In terms of how the player actually develops, I agree.  The point I was really speaking to is the risk/reward equation for spending a 7th round pick on Collins.  To me, it makes good business sense to draft him there.  I guess I just don't believe that any agent worth his salt would advise a player to stay out a year and enter the draft again, based on historical history, if you have a chance to get into the league and start working on your future contract.  I say this because the likelyhood of Collins being drafted in the first 2 rounds of the 2016 draft are very remote.  If you are not drafted in the 1st two rounds, then the financial benefits of sitting a year entirely against the player.  If you start considering the possibility of trading the player to a team Collins might have wanted to play for, then it really doesn't make any sense. 

 

Lets imagine that the Redskins drafted Collins and he decided that he didn't want to play for Washington (I don't believe this but for the sake of discussion), what could Washington get for a player like Collins if you discussed trade options with 5 desired teams?  Collins situation is unique.   Lets say the Cowboys were one of the teams Collins wanted to go to.  What would Jerry Jones give up to get a player like Collins this year, rather then gambling he could draft a player like Collins next year?  Would a 2nd round pick in 2016 be out of the question?  Would it be a 3rd?  The reality is that if it was as low as a 6th, the Skins would still be coming out ahead and I think that the chances are better then just good that a team would have offered much more then a 6th to get a top rated talent in this year and playing.   The process would be about projecting that player.  It works the same way the draft does.  Every team knows that no player is a sure thing but they still trade to move up to get them. 

 

You are right about what the player will actually become.  We won't know for a year or two but the logic behind drafting him in the 7th and what you might have been able to do once you drafted him is different IMO.  I think a team would have been wise to gamble a 7th on Collins.  That is just my opinion.

[coolbeans]

Greg Hardy, apparently, is a minor issue now. You know how he got off? He paid the girl he beat the crap out of on multiple occasions not to show up for court. The guy is a scumbag human being. There is no excuse for him. Someone who smokes pot right before the combine, when he knows he's going to get tested, is an idiot, with poor decision making skills. You can minimize the concerns all you want--but they are still, actual, legitimate concerns. Didn't Dez say he was going to hold out if he got tagged?

 

I enjoy good debate--especially with civil, intelligent posters like ABQ--but this is homerism at it's finest.

 

I don't consider Hardy a major issue at all.  His charges were dropped, it was his first offense, and they signed him to a contract that benefits the team greatly.  He can be cut tomorrow and the team is not hurt one bit.  Sure Gregory is an idiot for testing positive but he is a top 10 talent at a position of need and they got him @ #60.  Risk seriously reduced, reward still the same.  I don't recall Dez ever saying anything about holding out.  He didn't want to be tagged but no player does.  If he does, he won't be the first or last player to hold out for their big deal.  My worry level on his situation is zero.

 

Sure, I'm a homer.  Who isn't?  You are just as big a homer for trying to make these situations much bigger than they are.  What if all these players work out better than you could have imagined?  Hang around a while because AD is next.  I can't wait to hear people trying to downplay him running behind this new and improved Dallas OL.

[Davidmore27]

Jerry Jones talks about player's not embarrassing the cowboys organization. In my opinion he has done more to do that then any player. Signing someone like Greg hardy to play for your team is a disgrace a convicted women beater who only got off by paying off his victim is to me as low as you can go. Gregory is just a idiot and Collins is yet to be seen. But men who hit women have no place playing in the NFL they are the scum of the earth. I don't care if it would guarantee a Superbowl this year I would hope the redskins never sign someone like this.

[Riggo#44]

I don't consider Hardy a major issue at all. 

 

You're right. Really minor 10 game suspension too.

[coolbeans]

You're right. Really minor 10 game suspension too.

 

 

And if it stands, which we all know it won't, he will make peanuts this year and have fresh legs for the playoff run.  So, like I said, not a big issue.  It actually became even less of an issue with the drafting of Gregory.

The fact he had to go to that tactic at all should be telling.

And I don't believe it was one time. You don't do that unless someone has a history of poor behavior/decisions.

 

You can believe what you want to believe.  The coach that put the sign up was interviewed and said he did it as motivation for Collins after he missed a class.  He said it was never an issue again and he has been a hard worker ever since.

[Baylor Alum]

[Est.1974]

Scot Mc wasn't taking this kind of risk in his first draft, no even at 50/50.

I don't want to embarrass the organisation, that's what he said in his post draft presser.

[PokerPacker]

No, but we can talk about the Patriots, Seattle, Green Bay, and all the other teams who are regularly great and didn't waist a 7th on the guy either. If he was drafted in the 4-7 range, he holds out. That's ALL we really know. You can attempt to rewrite the future and assume that Collins wouldn't have held out, but you don't know that anymore than we know he would have.

Green Bay didn't have a 7th after trading up for Brett Hundley.

[cakmoney61]

I really wish we had grabbed him in the 7th. This guy will be a starter for the next decade. Imagine him and Scherff on The same side with Callahan trying to decide which one to shift inside. Sigh......

 

Last year the NFL took a public relations beating for appearing insensitive to domestic violence issues.  With that as the backdrop, every team had to pass on Collins in the draft while he was being investigated.  Can you imagine the public relations nightmare if he had been found to have been involved with his ex-girlfriend's murder after being drafted?

 

Every team did the right thing by not drafting him, especially after he said he would only go to the team that drafted him if it took him NLT the second round.

 

For the league as a whole and for each team, the only logical choice was not to draft Collins.

 

The Cowboys were the beneficiaries of some very good fortune.  I sure wish the Redskins had been his favorite team.

[bedlamVR]

To be honest I do not give a; 

The cowboys took a risk on a guy whos only crime,  I really hope,  is being unfortunate to be dragged into something like this . I think one thing that is curious is the people who are advising him. I don't get the hurry to sign with someone ASAP (bills to pay I guess) , the making public of some elements of the case (as if Paternity was important) and trying to dictate to the NFL where he was going to be drafted - I think that is as much of a turn off for some. 

 

But i had to post because It amuses me when people get upset because team A gets all this this and that and we get none . The league is full of players that fail to live up to or exceed expectations for all sorts of reasons and this happens every year, but it is never a good idea to increase those risks .... Let those teams deal with theirs and we worry about ours. 

[jflow78]

Green Bay didn't have a 7th after trading up for Brett Hundley.

Ugh! Don't remind me. I was hoping the Skins would grab him. Then, when I saw the Packers had taken him it was confirmed to me that he's going to be an awesome QB.

 

I don't know how you guys do it with so many QBs, I'd be happy with ONE! 

[Momma There Goes That Man]

So even if you don't tske a 7th round pick on him for chance of a holdout, why not make a push to sign him as an udfa instead of letting Dallas waltz right up and take him with ease

[Zazzaro703]

I know the police says he's not a suspect and he's cleared, but I've seen my share of Dateline to know that no one is cleared in a murder case until an arrest is made.

But if he is innocent, it was a good pickup. But it also reeks of a franchise that will sign ANYBODY to win. This team has been in the discussion for virtually every player that has had recent legal issues.

At least they are doing it within the rules and not cheating. If the chips fall right for the cowboys, they could have one of the best drafts of recent memory. Not exactly thrilled about this news. The fact that he signed with anyone tells me our FO either didn't try hard enough, or just took him off the board and out of play completely. Although maybe since he went to school at LSU, Cowboys being close to there played a factor. What a bull**** thing to happen though if he is indeed innocent.

[Zazzaro703]

So even if you don't tske a 7th round pick on him for chance of a holdout, why not make a push to sign him as an udfa instead of letting Dallas waltz right up and take him with ease

Exactly this, you are telling me we couldn't take a 7th round flyer on this guy to at least ensure he is ours or no ones? I guess ill have to just trust the GM. With this franchise and its luck, that's about all I have left... Just pray and trust the GM. If the real GM thing doesn't work out, what's next for the redskins? Sadly, that's sort of a serious question. The Hall of fame superbowl winning coaches didn't work, the young upstart coaches haven't worked, the franchise quarterback hasn't worked yet, the real GM is the last log that is keeping me afloat lol.

[Califan007 The Constipated]

I really have no clue why we didn't just spend the 7th round pick on him. Hell even one of the extra picks late in the day.

 

Well worth the "risk" 

 

Innocent until proven guilty. Dallas has made excellent moves on that o-line and GMSM better figure out a way to match up with that o-line for the next decade 

 

The same reasons why none of the other teams did, either. Including the Cowboys.

 

Seriously, people...we have a college player somehow tied either directly or indirectlhy to a murder right before the draft, and whose agent says that if he's drafted by ANY team outside of the first round or two he's gonna sit out the entire year and go to another team...and we wonder why every stinkin' team in the NFL said "No thanks" to him? lol...Really? "We should have used a 7th rounder on him"...Yeah, like being promised minimum wage would have kept him from sitting out the year, spending even more time clearing his name if innocent, and then being drafted in 2016 and making millions of dollars more per year. Being drafted inthe 6th or 7th round would have made his decision to sit out a no-brainer.

 

Dallas got "lucky" in the fact that if the Miami Dolphins were his favorite team growing up he might be signing there instead. Let's not act like the Cowboys were the one team to truly show an interest in him as where the rest of the league just kinda dawdled along not sure what to do...

[Califan007 The Constipated]

Exactly this, you are telling me we couldn't take a 7th round flyer on this guy to at least ensure he is ours or no ones?

You wouldn't be ensuring that he's ours, you'd only be ensuring that he's no one's.

And when he did hold out for the season everyone would be asking "Why spend even a 7th on a player the entire league knew would sit out the year if anyone drafted him there?...We should have just waited for him to become a UDFA and then went after him, at least we'd still have a 7th round pick to use. I guess we'll just have to trust our new GM..."