3:44pm: The NFL has rejected Collins’ request to withdraw from tonight’s draft and be eligible for the supplemental draft, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
3:10pm: Both Charles Robinson of Yahoo! Sports and Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com (Twitter links) are hearing that the league is unlikely to allow Collins to withdraw and enter the supplemental draft.
2:20pm: Collins has major obstacles to overcome in his bid to get out of tonight’s draft and into the supplemental draft, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. For starters, he’s a senior and automatically draft eligible. Beyond that, he’s seeking the help of the NFLPA and since he’s not in the league yet, the NFLPA doesn’t represent him yet.
1:43pm: La’el Collins is seeking to have his name pulled from the draft, allowing him time to clear his name and then enter the supplemental draft, according to Jay Glazer of FOX Sports (on Twitter).
The police want to talk to Collins to ascertain information relating to the murder of a pregnant woman. Collins is not a suspect in the killing, but it’s not 100% clear what his level of involvement is (if any), and that has scared off many NFL teams. The authorities have said that they will not talk to Collins until after the conclusion of the draft, leaving his situation far too murky and uncomfortable for interested clubs.
The NFL supplemental draft takes place in the summer and is designed to give players a second chance to get drafted when they miss the boat for the main draft in the spring. Typically, players enter the supplemental draft because of academic or disciplinary matters that affected their eligibility. A quick scan of the supplemental draft’s history shows that there is no precedent for a case like Collins’.
In the final version of his mock draft, PFR’s Rob DiRe projected Collins to go No. 14 to the Dolphins. Talent-wise, Collins has been universally regarded as a first round caliber player. His increasingly murky legal situation, however, makes the top half of the first round seem less and less likely.