g-dawg Posted May 5, 2015 Share Posted May 5, 2015 La'el Collins meets with Bills' Ryan, to meet with Dolphins Tuesdayby R.J. White | CBSSports.com Mon, 04 May 2015 10:45 PM ET Bills coach Rex Ryan met with undrafted free-agent offensive tackle La'el Collins Monday night in Baton Rouge, FOX 8 New Orleans reports. Collins also has a meeting scheduledwith officials of the Dolphins Tuesday, The Advocate reports.Collins met with police earlier in the day to answer questions in the murder investigation of his former girlfriend. He is still not being considered a suspect by the police.Collins was considered a potential first-round pick as recently as a week before the draft. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tribal Chief Posted May 5, 2015 Share Posted May 5, 2015 Hope he gets his name cleared and gets a shot somewhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Hoopah! Posted May 5, 2015 Share Posted May 5, 2015 I understand this is a new development, but we have two Collins' threads on the front page, and other than alleged comment by TD that he would monitor Collins' situation, there is currently no indication the Falcons are interested.We need a merged Collins' topic, and in the event another team signs him, it's no longer TATF.I will grant you that it's better than another Gurley thread though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoYouSeeWhatHappensLarry Posted May 5, 2015 Share Posted May 5, 2015 I understand this is a new development, but we have two Collins' threads on the front page, and other than alleged comment by TD that he would monitor Collins' situation, there is currently no indication the Falcons are interested.We need a merged Collins' topic, and in the event another team signs him, it's no longer TATF.I will grant you that it's better than another Gurley thread though. Well then, we better get our ***** interested!If this guy is in play, you do whatever it is that you can to bring him in. That would turn an "A" draft into a "ZOMG" draft. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hashbrown3 Posted May 5, 2015 Share Posted May 5, 2015 Fuel the AB jet up and bring big'n in for a tour of our facility, din din, & meet his new team mates. Show him the depth chart with him penciled in as day 1 starter and lets cap off nfl's best draft with a #1 OT who'll blow doors open for mister coleman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
g-dawg Posted May 5, 2015 Author Share Posted May 5, 2015 I understand this is a new development, but we have two Collins' threads on the front page, and other than alleged comment by TD that he would monitor Collins' situation, there is currently no indication the Falcons are interested.We need a merged Collins' topic, and in the event another team signs him, it's no longer TATF.I will grant you that it's better than another Gurley thread though. whatever. the hay is in the barn on our free agency(mostly) and the draft. The only exciting possible "get" out there is La'el Collins - and, like you said, this is a new development. If mod wants to merge, no worries. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
g-dawg Posted May 5, 2015 Author Share Posted May 5, 2015 Well then, we better get our ***** interested!If this guy is in play, you do whatever it is that you can to bring him in. That would turn an "A" draft into a "ZOMG" draft. your dayum right. If we put La'el Collins w/ Beasley, Jalen Collins, Tevin Coleman and Grady Jarrett - that is crazy good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RI Falcon Posted May 5, 2015 Share Posted May 5, 2015 Hope he gets his name cleared and gets a shot somewhere.Punpunpunpunpunpunpun Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tribal Chief Posted May 5, 2015 Share Posted May 5, 2015 PunpunpunpunpunpunpunSorry I'm not hip to the new stuff teenagers say online Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Hoopah! Posted May 5, 2015 Share Posted May 5, 2015 whatever. the hay is in the barn on our free agency(mostly) and the draft. The only exciting possible "get" out there is La'el Collins - and, like you said, this is a new development. If mod wants to merge, no worries.I'm not giving you grief for posting it, I just think we need a merged Collins' topic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atlshocker Posted May 5, 2015 Share Posted May 5, 2015 Merge topic Nazi . JJeez . I for one dont like going thru 20pages of people have four convos. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Hoopah! Posted May 5, 2015 Share Posted May 5, 2015 Merge topic Nazi . JJeez . I for one dont like going thru 20pages of people have four convos.I don't like wading through multiple threads on the exact same topic on the front page. That's the beauty of message boards, we all like and dislike different things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jesus Posted May 5, 2015 Share Posted May 5, 2015 So how can he just declare he doesn't want to be drafted then sign with whom he wants? Isn't there rules about this sort of thing? Wouldn't it make the draft pointless if more players did this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MasterBateser Posted May 5, 2015 Share Posted May 5, 2015 So how can he just declare he doesn't want to be drafted then sign with whom he wants? Isn't there rules about this sort of thing? Wouldn't it make the draft pointless if more players did this?But being drafted at certain spots guarantees you money, UDFA are guaranteed nothing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blizzard_falcon Posted May 5, 2015 Share Posted May 5, 2015 So how can he just declare he doesn't want to be drafted then sign with whom he wants? Isn't there rules about this sort of thing? Wouldn't it make the draft pointless if more players did this?http://overthecap.com/what-can-lael-collins-earn-as-an-undrafted-free-agent/With the draft over, we hit the fast and furious UDFA signing period, which is where La’El Collins now sits. So let’s take a quick look at the rules regarding the signings, specifically in regards to Collins.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 is not a major loss for Collins of any player who was not projected to be a 2nd round pick.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.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 Collins 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's 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.Now there is nothing in the process that prevents a team from guaranteeing large amounts of salary to a UDFA. This is how many teams lure a UDFA while still 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 rounder's guarantee.I doubt a team would be willing to make that investment now, but if Collins waits until the summer to sign they might if his name is cleared. In theory that could also give him time to see how teams depth charts are beginning to shape up and where he will get the most opportunity to play. This is also important, because if he starts, he would likely be a leader in Performance Based Pay, which is based on playing time relative to your cap charge. Last year, the league leader received nearly $375,000 in PBP. He would certainly earn more than highly drafted players, further shrinking the gap.So the avenues are there for Collins - or any UDFA - to make up for losses by not being drafted if they carefully select the team and are quality NFL players. UDFAs are never given the opportunity of a draft pick, nor do they usually get the financial security, but they will be rewarded if they prove the NFL scouts wrong for pushing them out of the draft. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.