The Dallas Cowboys announced releasing their starting right tackle from last season, La’el Collins.
28-year-old La’el Collins is expected to draw interest from many teams as he is still regarded as a starting-caliber lineman. On Friday, he has reportedly already met with the Super Bowl runner-up Cincinnati Bengals.
Speculation around the league indicated that the Cowboys were looking to find a trade partner for La’el Collins earlier this week. The team even gave Collins and his agent permission to seek out their own trade.
In the end, however, the Cowboys releasing La’el Collins was primarily for salary cap purposes. Releasing Collins creates an additional $10 million in cap space for Dallas. In contrast, trading La’el Collins would have freed up less than $2 million in cap space.
Since signing as an undrafted free agent, Collins has been with Dallas following the 2015 NFL Draft. La’el Collins was predicted to be a first or second-round pick in the draft until news broke that police were questioning him in connection with the shooting death of a pregnant woman. After the draft, Collins was cleared of having any involvement with the crime. The Cowboys then swooped in to pick up the highly touted draft prospect.
Collins played well enough to earn a five-year, $50 million contract extension in 2019. However, the last two seasons have been challenging for La’el Collins. He missed ten games of the 2020 season due to requiring hip surgery. Then, last season he was suspended for the first five weeks of the season due to failure to appear for a mandatory drug test.
La’el Collins appealed the suspension, but during the appeal process, it was revealed that Collins attempted to bribe the independent test-taker to avoid having to submit a test for marijuana. The league upheld his suspension, which opened the door for Terrance Steele to start in his place.
Steele was solid in place of Collins while also carrying a substantially smaller contract. Steele is now expected to be the starter at right tackle next season.
Collins is the second starter from last season’s offensive line to leave the team. Starting left guard Connor Williams was a free agent and agreed to a four-year contract with the Miami Dolphins earlier in the week. The 24-year-old Williams was a second-round draft pick who showed the potential to be an outstanding lineman. However, last season he led the NFL with 15 penalties against him in the regular season.
With the losses of La’el Collins and Connor Williams, Dallas Cowboys fans will hope the team prioritizes the offensive line in the upcoming NFL Draft.