La'El Collins to the Cowboys

[Guiness]

La'El Collins signed by the Cowboys to a 3yr $1.65M fully guaranteed contract with no offset language and the ability (like all UDFAs) to renegotiate in 2 years. Story also says 25 teams contacted him after he got through his interview with the police.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/05/07/collins-hasnt-been-officially-cleared/

He got shafted by the league, but in the end he got not too shabby a deal.

[Cheesehead Craig]

How did he get shafted by the league?

[George Cumby]

Dunno if he was shafted, but there was a collective rush to judgement on the guy. Given the circumstances I don't blame anyone for making that rush to judgement.

[Rastak]

League didn't do a thing to the guy.

Teams passed on him due to concerns. The CBA spells out how to get into the supplemental draft and he CLEARLY didn't qualify.

[Guiness]

He was shafted out of a few million dollars. He likely would've been a first round choice, but (so far as anyone can tell*) for circumstances beyond his control he was undraftable.

Sure, he got a sweet deal for a UDFA, but he is not making near what he would've. The projected salary for the 16th pick of the draft is over $9M with a $4M signing bonus. I picked this because it's halfway through the round and he was projected to go in the top half. Even if he had lasted until the Patriots were on the clock, he would've gotten $6.9M as pick 32.

I know the rules surrounding the supplemental draft wouldn't allow Collins to enter it, but in the post Rice-Peterson-Hardy NFL, the rules changed. The NFL arbitrarily changed (you could argue bent. Really bent) and they could've done the same wrt the supplemental draft rules. All Goodell had to say was "ok, if he's cleared, he can enter it" and it would've been done. That would've allowed the situation to play itself out without any posturing, threats etc.

*all the information we've seen so far point to him having no involvement.

[red]

he did it to himself, he had almost a whole week before the draft to go talk to the police and clear his name, he instead chose to dodge the cops like he had something to hide

[Guiness]

League didn't do a thing to the guy.

Teams passed on him due to concerns. The CBA spells out how to get into the supplemental draft and he CLEARLY didn't qualify.

I know he didn't qualify, but the landscape has changed pretty significantly. The 'say Hannibal Lector had an eating disorder' comment is no longer true. The Seahawks have said they would not have drafted Frank Clarke if he had charges pending - he got off with a minor fine, but if that hadn't been resolved in time for the draft, what would've happened to him?

I think players should be able to voluntarily withdraw from the draft if there are non-football issue that affect their draft status - and cost them a whole pile of money.

[Guiness]

he did it to himself, he had almost a whole week before the draft to go talk to the police and clear his name, he instead chose to dodge the cops like he had something to hide

If the police wanted to talk to me about a murder investigation of a pregnant woman I used to date, I'd take my sweet damn time, get my ducks in a row and head down with a lawyer too! I can't say I blame him at all for the way he handled it.

Something to hide or no, you want to make sure you handle that situation right, and rushing down to sit in an interview room in Baton Rouge with some homicide detectives seems fraught with disaster.

[Carolina_Packer]

I know he didn't qualify, but the landscape has changed pretty significantly. The 'say Hannibal Lector had an eating disorder' comment is no longer true. The Seahawks have said they would not have drafted Frank Clarke if he had charges pending - he got off with a minor fine, but if that hadn't been resolved in time for the draft, what would've happened to him?

I think players should be able to voluntarily withdraw from the draft if there are non-football issue that affect their draft status - and cost them a whole pile of money.

Sounds like a perfect storm scenario. First off, tragically, two people are no longer with us, including a baby. The timing for Collins is very unfortunate, but it is what it is.

There should be a rule or regulation that is collectively bargained that allows for a player to withdraw, even at a late stage, possibly due to circumstances beyond the individual's control.

First off, if he has any emotional connection to Brittany Mills, he should be allowed to be a human being and grieve her loss. But also, if he becomes more than just a person of interest to the authorities, then he would have more than just football to worry about. Let him take a step back, get things sorted out, while protecting his draft stock and earning power by letting him go back in the draft the next year.

If he can't because it turns out he was directly involved, then good for the league and the team that may have mistakenly drafted him. If he wasn't at all involved, then he gets another shot at the guaranteed money he will now miss out on. The only down-side is having to sit out.

[smuggler]

He could have gone the supplemental draft route...

[pbmax]

he did it to himself, he had almost a whole week before the draft to go talk to the police and clear his name, he instead chose to dodge the cops like he had something to hide

There is no guarantee that conversation is going to go well. Delay to be sure is pretty reasonable.

Remember, he needs not to just talk to them to salvage the draft situation, he needs to come out close to scot-free. Police don't normally prioritize publicly ruling persons of interest out of the woods.

[pbmax]

He could have gone the supplemental draft route...

What is the deadline to decide on that? I wonder if they had the chance to buy time and failed or if they were unsure about the investigation.

My bet is they were privately certain about the investigation's results, but the NFL leakers made him radioactive as the draft approached.

[Guiness]

He could have gone the supplemental draft route...

What is the deadline to decide on that?

The way PFT presented it, he never could've. They quoted the following rule

“No player may elect to bypass a Draft for which he is eligible to apply for selection in a Supplemental Draft,” Article 6, Section 2(c) of the Collective Bargaining Agreement declares."

[pbmax]

The way PFT presented it, he never could've. They quoted the following rule

Bernie Kosar got around this by delaying his graduation until the summer before his senior year. So yeah, doesn't look like it has changed much.

[mraynrand]

I think he got bad advice from Ray Lewis