The Dallas Cowboys, and owner/general manager Jerry Jones have signed supremely talented un-drafted free agent, La’el Collins. This is a tremendously impactful development for not only the Dallas Cowboys, but subsequently the New York Giants, and the rest of the NFC East.
As of Monday I was leaning towards the belief that the NFC East was relatively wide open — maybe even there for the taking. As of today; that is no longer the case.
It may not be a flashy signing, but signing La’el Collins makes an already dominate Dallas offensive line that much better. Last NFL season the consensus around the NFL was that the Dallas Cowboys had the best offensive line in football. A line so good that it lead many to essentially discount DeMarco Murray’s 1,845 rushing yards, in what was an MVP caliber season.
Whether it is newly acquired Darren McFadden, or Joseph Randle leading the way, I fully expect Dallas’s run game to be back at an elite level in 2015. Consequently, I expect quarterback Tony Romo to play at an exceptionally high level yet again in 2015. That plus a greatly improved defense, all signs point to the Dallas Cowboys again being a great team in 2015.
With Collins in Dallas, I frankly feel Jerry Reese just might have dropped the ball.
Reports say that Dallas signed Collins to the max contract allowed for an un-drafted free agent. I am not saying that the Giants should have offered more, because doing such likely would have been prohibited by NFL rules. What I am saying, and what I am questioning is if Reese did all he could to at least attempt to make Collins a Giant.
It may sound dramatic, but Collins signing with Dallas is a crucial blow to the Giants. For not just the short term, but also the long term. The thought of Dallas having a dominant, young offensive line built around center Travis Frederick, guard Zack Martin, left tackle Tyron Smith, and now presumably guard La’el Collins, for quite possibly the next decade, from a Giants prospective is absolutely terrifying.
I should mention; all four of the adformentioned potential, and proven all pro offensive lineman are 24 years old, at the max. Talk about a foundation to build around for years to come.
Reese, already knowing that his team had a significant weakness on the offensive line, had to do all that he possibly could to make Collins a Giant, and subsequently not a Cowboy.
Just to put it into prospective, many scouts rated Collins higher on their big boards than Ereck Flowers, whom the Giants drafted ninth overall, and that’s not even a knock on Flowers. Collins is just that good. Collins would have been an elite draft prospect if not for his off the field issue. Anyway you look at it, this an absolute steal for Jones, and the Cowboys.
Again, I cannot for sure say that the Giants not signing Collins is a huge mistake by Jerry Reese. If only for the reason that Reese may have never had a real shot to actually do so. Collins may have had his mind set on Dallas from the start. Maybe Collins was drawn to the idea of helping form a ‘super line.’ I simply do not know.
What I do know, is that in any regard, Collins signing with Dallas is a significant negative development for the Giants. Make no bones about it, Dallas was already the team to beat in the NFC East, and they just got a whole lot better.
It is unfortunate for the Giants that it worked out the way it did, hopefully Reese did in fact do all he could to prevent this worse case scenario outcome from taking place. If however Reese did not, simply put…Reese failed.