Sometimes you hear things during the NFL offseason that make a lot of sense and you could see it happening.
At other times you hear something that makes you do a discount double-check to make sure you heard it correctly.
The latest bombshell that dropped on Twitter from an NFL insider connected the New York Jets to a suddenly available star player and it certainly raised some eyebrows.
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An Absolute Stunner
Tony Pauline of the Pro Football Network shared that the Jets have “high interest” in Dallas Cowboys offensive lineman La’el Collins.
An addendum to yesterday’s story on La’el Collins- I’m told interest is high from both the NY Jets and Jacksonville Jaguars, though both teams are more apt to be suitors if Collins is released, rather than trade and take on his contract.
Earlier this week the Cowboys granted Collins’ representation permission to seek a trade and if one isn’t consummated he is expected to be cut.
The 28-year-old (will be 29 by the start of the 2022 season) is a super talented offensive lineman that has fallen on some hard times as of late.
Over the last two years, Collins has missed 21 games due to a variety of injuries and suspensions.
For all of his issues, Collins still has some really nice NFL tape and prototypical size. In his seven years in the league, the big man has played in 74 games and has started in 71 of those contests.
While Dallas plans on trading him, that may prove difficult considering Collins has three years left on his contract with over $30 million still on the books. If they decide to dump him, which is a growing possibility, that is when the Jets will be “more than apt suitors” for his services in free agency.
What the Heck Could That Mean?
The Jets being interested in a talented offensive lineman isn’t a surprise, but Collins in particular would be interesting.
Predominantly in the NFL, he has played outside at right tackle, if the Jets are interested in him what does that mean for the future of George Fant and Mekhi Becton?
Collins would likely command a very significant deal and if you doled out that kind of money for him, you wouldn’t put him on the bench.
Analyst and co-host of Badlands Joe Caporoso suggested this could be a “likely precursor” to a Becton trade.
While Collins has some college and minimal NFL experience at guard, that doesn’t seem like a very realistic positional change for him at this stage of his career.
Although for what it is worth Pauline mentioned Collins sliding inside to guard as a remote possibility at his next NFL landing spot.
There are a lot of moving parts here, but this would not be a good sign for Becton’s future with the team.
This interest is hard to believe though for a few reasons.
If the Jets moved on from Becton this offseason, they would be thrown into a very compromising cap situation. They would be forced to eat a $10.9 million dead cap hit, per Spotrac.
On top of the financial reasons, Douglas is invested in Becton’s success. The big man out of Louisville was his first-ever selection as the general manager of the Jets.
Before Douglas would ever consider hitting the eject button and thus waving the white flag that he got it wrong, he would give Becton every chance to prove him right.
If things go south in 2022 for Becton, then it would make sense to find an exit strategy in 2023, anything earlier than that would seem premature.
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Jets Have ‘High Interest’ in Monster Cowboys OL, Could Hint at Trade