His involvement with the local police could clear up as early as this coming Monday evening. If he comes away clean, should the Jets grab him? [I know that's a big if - so I put that in there. HE HAS TO COME OFF CLEAN. Or no nothing.]
Edit: I see he's ineligible for 2016 NFL draft. So yes absolutely. The problem is the Jets need to lure him here. The Jets don't have much leverage over other teams in terms of team legacy. The patriots, cowboys, packers, etc...other great organizations he might chose over the Jets. He would probably want to a place that had a franchise QB in place and has a better chance at competing. The only thing the Jets have going for them is their rising stock, location (this is a 'maybe' since he may not like NYC), and their facilities.
Just read on ESPN that he is not eligible to re-enter the draft. His only route to the NFL now is free agency. Really really sucks for the kid if he's indeed uninvolved in the murder. Anyway... Let's grab him ASAP, and cut him if it turns out the guy is a scumbag.
Fascinating situation. Could work out for the kid if he's clean, as teams would get into a bidding war and he'd have his choice of teams that wanted him - at a price probably pretty similar or above where he would have been drafted. Would be worth it for us to bid 2nd round dollars for him if so.
If that was true that would have been reported by at least someone. That involves the league contacting every single team. There are so many executives that would have been told that and at least a few of them would have leaked that information to a reporter.
Agreed but with that being said the kid got screwed so I am happy for him that at least he will be able to pick his team. I really hope that our GM and or coach will get on a plane and pay him a visit to make sure that he wants to come here if he is innocent.
They should offer him the same contract he'd get if he was the 10th pick in the draft. And they should have already done it.
No they shouldn't have....if they offer him big money and he winds up going to jail then it becomes a BIG PR nightmare. You have to wait till he's fully exonerated.
Since he's a UDFA he can sign anywhere he wants. If I'm him I'd either stay home and sign with the Saints or go far far away and sign with the Seahawks. He shouldn't subject himself to the NY media sharks.
Should reach out and like others I thought offer a decent contract but as pointed out league rules set out the size of the offer - from his point of view we should be a good landing spot as our RT is not great and our LT is getting older so a chance to get playing time in 2015 as a RT with a possible shot at LT if he works hard - ALL ASSUMING HE IS NOT CHARGED Also saw this well written explanation elsewhere Every undrafted rookie is locked into signing a three year contract. The three year contract will contain the minimum Paragraph 5 salary in each year, which will equal payouts of $435,000 in 2015, $525,000 in 2016, and $615,000 in 2017. These are the same numbers as rookies drafted after the 3rd round and many of the players drafted in the third round, so it explains why Collins tried to force his selection. The UDFA’s are very limited in terms of signing bonus money. I don’t have the final number in front of me but IIRC each team can spend, in total, about $88,000 on all their undrafted rookies. That usually means a large number of players receiving signing bonuses that will not exceed $8,000. So that is a limiting factor for a player who is not drafted. The smallest signing bonus a 7th round pick will receive likely to be about $52,000. So that is a pretty big loss considering for many players the bonus is the only salary they will ever receive. We have 7 UDFAs but at least 4 will have little if any money assigned. This gives us a better shot than teams who have signed 10+ UDFAs if the team try to land him At the end of the three year contract, every UDFA will be a restricted free agent while a drafted rookie will have a fourth contract year. Teams select from one of three RFA salaries for the UDFA’s. The smallest tender for that year will be $1.785 million. Every drafted rookie (except punters and kickers) is also eligible to see their contracted salary rise to the smallest tender level based on playing time. So if Collins does not have a great career but is ok he will basically trail every drafted rookie that is ok by the signing bonus. However if he excels and earns the 2nd or 1st level tender he will earn at least $2.73 or $3.88 million in the final year. No drafted rookie can do that, so that would allow him to move his overall salary take back into the 2nd round level of the draft. Every UDFA is extension eligible after just two seasons, so a very good player can get extended much earlier than the draft pick who must play three years. If I was Collins agent and that was a goal of mine I would strongly consider signing with a team like the Bengals, 49ers, Packers, or Patriots among others. These are the teams that typically like to extend talent early if possible and you may get that quicker extension from them if you do play like a first rounder. Similarly teams like the Texans and Giants have already proven they will avoid the RFA process for great talent like Arian Foster or Victor Cruz. Those are the kind of teams you may get that faster value from. Where the team who signs him can WIN Now there is nothing in the process that prevents a team from guaranteeing large amounts of salary to UDFA. This is how many teams lure a UDFA while complying with the signing bonus rules. It is not uncommon to see a UDFA receive a salary guarantee equal to a Practice Squad salary (slightly over $100,000) and in some cases double that. For Collins that presents an opportunity to attempt to receive a three year guarantee of $1,575,000. That guarantee would be equivalent to a late 2nd rounders guarantee through his signing bonus and salary guarantee.
That (the inability to completely splurge on UDFA's) also really ensures no team signs him until he's cleared. And he isn't going to want to sign until he exhausts any recourse he might have to legally challenge the inability to go into the draft.
If he is innocent - I am not certain that if he fights it that he will not be allowed to enter the 2016 draft. I am well aware of what the NFL is saying now, but given the fact that he tried to withdraw from the draft BEFOREHAND and applied to go in the supplemental draft and was denied might work in his favor. I highly doubt he signs with anyone as a UDFA before this season, he will exhaust every opportunity to get his payday. With the restrictions on UDFA salary in place he really has nothing to lose, if he has to go down that route next year he will and the payday will be the same, but expect a legal battle first (unless of course he is guilty of something).
Yes they should because you can bet your ass every other team in the nfl will contact him tomorrow night as soon as the police say they are finished with him.
