Jamie Collins - Pro Football Rumors

Collins: I Didn’t Ask For “Von Miller Money”

November 2nd, 2016 at 10:55am CST by Zachary Links

After the Patriots shipped Jamie Collins to the Browns, it was widely reported that the team’s unsuccessful contract talks helped to spur the deal. According to one report, Collins’ camp once told the Patriots that they were seeking “Von Miller money.” In a chat with reporters today, Collins denied setting his asking price that high.

“I’m not Von Miller. Let’s be smart,” Collins said (Twitter link via Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com).

Collins also denied rumblings of an $11MM/year contract offer from the Pats (Twitter link). However, as noted yesterday, it sounds like a matter of semantics. The Patriots apparently floated that number in talks, but never formally put such an offer on the table.

The details of Collins’ talks with the Patriots are largely irrelevant now, but it does give us insight into where his team may kick things off in negotiations. The Browns obviously want to lock Collins up for future seasons and they now know that they won’t have to work his reps down from a ludicrously high six-year, $114.5MM starting point. Yesterday, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com heard that Collins does want to top Luke Kuechly‘s $12.36MM/year average, which is a more realistic target. Kuechly signed his deal with the Panthers prior to the 2015 season and the cap/market increase may allow Collins to leapfrog him, depending on how he performs for the rest of the season.

Collins also said he feels he’s auditioning for the 31 other teams, considering he’s out of contract after this season. At the same time, he said that he “wasn’t worried” about joining the winless Browns and is putting his focus on thriving with his new team.

Jamie Collins Looking To Top Kuechly’s Salary?

November 1st, 2016 at 10:32am CST by Zachary Links

Yesterday, the Patriots shocked the football world when they shipped linebacker Jamie Collins to the Browns for a future draft pick. While there has been speculation about Collins’ work ethic and possible friction with Bill Belichick, the deal was also driven by the Pats’ realization that they won’t be able to re-sign him to a team-friendly deal this offseason. The Patriots didn’t formally offer Collins a new deal (despite reports to the contrary), but they floated the idea of an $11MM/year contract, according to Jeff Howe of the Boston Herald (on Twitter).

After trading for the pending free agent, the Browns are obviously looking to lock Collins up for the long term. Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter) hears that Collins is looking to eclipse the $12.36MM/year that Luke Kuechly is making on his current deal with the Panthers. Collins’ camp views him as a hybrid player and will push for a deal that would put him in the top four amongst all linebackers in terms of AAV. Collins reportedly told the Patriots that he wanted “Von Miller money” at one point during talks, so it sounds like his demands have come back down to earth a little bit.

Meanwhile, former Pats assistant Mike Lombardi discussed the Collins deal on the latest edition of The Bill Simmons Podcast (audio link). During the interview, Lombardi shed some light on why New England was willing to bail on the talented linebacker in the middle of the season:

“The one thing you have to do, Donnie Walsh said this to me in 1990s, or the late 80s, ‘You’ve got to know what you’re trading before you make a trade.’ And that’s the one caveat that Belichick knows; he knows what he’s trading. He’s trading a guy who is very talented, but very moody, very inconsistent with his effort, and so for him to pay that player that type of money sends a message to the locker room that, look, I tolerate this and I reward this. He’s never doing that. And when Belichick, every message he sends in terms of a contract is a message to the locker room.”

Reaction To The Jamie Collins Trade

October 31st, 2016 at 7:23pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The NFL’s official transaction wire lists the Patriots’ return for linebacker Jamie Collins as a conditional 2018 fourth-round pick, not a 2017 third-round compensatory pick as originally reported, according to Doug Kyed of NESN (Twitter link). That could because the deal is stipulated on Cleveland actually receiving a third-round comp pick — if it doesn’t, the Patriots would receive a fourth-round selection, tweets Tony Grossi of ESPN.com.

Here’s where things get tricky: the Patriots must relinquish their highest fourth-round pick in 2017 as part of their Deflategate punishment. So, as Field Yates of ESPN.com explains (Twitter link), the two sides may have worked out an agreement that allow New England to get a fourth-rounder for now, but have that pick turn into a third-rounder — in either 2017 or 2018 — depending on future events. Confused? You’re not alone, but reports should flow in soon that will elucidate the situation.

Let’s take a look at some of the reaction and fallout from today’s shocking trade, from both the Patriots’ and Browns’ point-of-view…

New England Patriots

The Patriots could have received a third-round compensatory pick by simply letting Collins walk in free agency, but that would have meant waiting until 2018 to recoup the selection, as Jason Fitzgerald of Over the Cap tweets. Additionally, New England would have had to “tip toe” in 2017 free agency, making sure that it didn’t sign any high-priced outsiders that would cancel out the Collins comp pick.
Former Patriots/Browns executive Michael Lombardi also offered his take on the trade (all Twitter links), stating that he wasn’t surprised by the deal given that Collins had been freelancing on defense, specifically pointing to two plays against Buffalo on Sunday. Moving Collins, says Lombardi, also serves as something of a wake-up call to the rest of the defense.
Collins’ absence could offer leverage to fellow linebacker Dont’a Hightower, who is also set to become a free agent next spring, opines Joel Corry of CBSSports.com (Twitter link). By dealing away Chandler Jones over the summer, and Collins now, the Pats are seemingly signalling that they’ve chosen Hightower for the long term. In the immediate future, expect to see more of sixth-round rookie ‘backer Elandon Roberts, with Barkevious Mingo chipping in on passing downs, says Kyed (Twitter link).
In dueling opinion pieces, Mike Sando of ESPN Insider and Kyed offer disparate opinions on today’s trade, with Sando arguing that the deal makes sense for New England, while Kyed labels it a “head-scratcher.”

Cleveland Browns

The acquisition of Collins means the Browns need to ramp up talks with impending free agent receiver Terrelle Pryor, as Charles Robinson of Yahoo! Sports tweets. With only one franchise tag to deploy, Cleveland can’t risk allowing both players to hit free agency. Luckily, the Browns have already reportedly engaged in negotiation talks with Pryor.
In a full-length piece, Fitzgerald writes that the deal doesn’t make a ton of sense from Cleveland’s perspective, even though the team has plenty of cap space to use. Additionally, Collins doesn’t necessarily play an impact position, meaning the franchise tag is less useful. If the Browns don’t re-sign Collins, they could reap a comp pick the following year, but that would likely entail sitting out the free agent period once again.
Cleveland could theoretically turn Joe Thomas into Collins (and more), say Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com (Twitter link). If the Browns are able to get a second-round pick for Thomas, they’ve essentially acquired a younger player while trading up in the draft.

Jamie Collins Rejected $11MM/Year From Pats

October 31st, 2016 at 5:52pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Before he was traded to the Browns, linebacker Jamie Collins turned down a contract offer of $11MM per year from the Patriots, according to Ben Volin of the Boston Globe (Twitter link). While no other details of the proposal, such as guaranteed money or contract structure, are known, $11MM is far less than the $15MM franchise tag that Collins would have required.

At one point, Collins was asking the Patriots for “Von Miller money” — six years, $114.5MM — Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. The Patriots and head coach Bill Belichick were never likely to pay that total, nor assign Collins the franchise tag, says Joel Corry of CBSSports.com (Twitter link). As such, negotiations between the club and Collins were predictably going nowhere. Talks had “not progressed,” per Mike Reiss of ESPN.com (Twitter link), while a source tells Volin that New England was “having a lot of trouble” in negotiations (Twitter link).

Both sides appeared ready to “move on,” according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter links), and today’s trade allows both parties to do just that. “The thinking is, if they don’t want me, go someplace that does,” Bus Cook, Collins’ agent, Rapoport after the deal was completed.

Patriots Trade LB Jamie Collins To Browns

October 31st, 2016 at 11:30am CST by Zachary Links

The Patriots are trading linebacker Jamie Collins to the Browns, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter). In return, New England will receive a compensatory third-round pick. The deal has been confirmed via press release.

Recently, the Patriots made a team-friendly extension offer to Collins, but they were rebuffed. The Pats likely didn’t think that they could work out a new deal with the pending free agent, leading them to today’s trade. Of course, New England has a number of key players to take care of, including Martellus Bennett, Malcolm Butler (restricted free agent), Dont’a Hightower, and Logan Ryan. Had the Patriots waited for Collins to sign elsewhere in the offseason, their compensatory pick would have come in 2018.

The Browns, meanwhile, have been stockpiling draft picks in unprecedented fashion and they used one of those selections today to acquire one of the league’s top outside linebackers. Through seven games, Collins has 43 tackles, one sack, three passes defensed, and two interceptions. The advanced numbers at Pro Football Focus have Collins ranked as the No. 9 linebacker in the NFL this year with roughly even grades for his run defense and coverage.

Presumably, the Browns are going to try and lock up Collins on a long-term deal. Cleveland can utilize the franchise tag to keep Collins for the 2017 season and he’s probably the team’s best candidate for that designation.

We haven’t heard any trade rumors involving Collins this week and the deal comes as a complete shock. No one anticipated that the Patriots would deal one of their best defenders this week and no one expected the rebuilding Browns to acquire a bonafide star prior to the deadline. There has been lots of talk about Cleveland moving key veterans like Joe Thomas, but it’s possible that the Browns could continue in buyer’s mode for the next 24 hours.

Patriots Notes: Lewis, Jackson, Bennett, Butler

October 16th, 2016 at 3:05pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The Patriots have made team-friendly extension offers to a number of their pending free agents — including Martellus Bennett, Malcolm Butler, Jamie Collins, Dont’a Hightower, and Logan Ryan — but so far, no player has been interested in putting pen to paper, according to Ben Volin of the Boston Globe. Given that the salary cap continues to rise, each of these impending free agents figures to cash in the open market, and therefore have little incentive to agree to any offer New England puts on the table.

Here’s more on the Patriots, who are now 5-1 after beating the Bengals today:

After opening the year on the physically unable to perform list, running back Dion Lewis is eligible to begin practicing this week. There’s a chance that happens, but it also wouldn’t be surprising for the Patriots to hold Lewis out of game action until after the club’s November bye, writes Mike Reiss of ESPN.com. Lewis has made “positive progress” as he recovers from ACL surgery, per Reiss, but New England will exude caution nonetheless.
Offensive lineman Tre’ Jackson also started the season on the PUP list, but he’s closer to returning than is Lewis, reports Reiss. Mason is expected to practice this week, and should be able to play again as soon very soon. In fact, New England’s release of guard Jonathan Cooper may have precipitated by Mason’s health.
The Patriots recently gave $52,700 raises to four practice squad players — running back Bishop Sankey, defensive end Geneo Grissom, guard Chris Barker, and defensive tackle Anthony Johnson. For what it’s worth, Grissom and Johnson were then promoted to active roster on Saturday.

Patriots Notes: Butler, FAs, Sheard

June 5th, 2016 at 9:38am CST by Rory Parks

Mike Reiss of ESPN.com believes the extension that Allen Hurns signed with the Jaguars a few days ago could serve as a useful blueprint for the Patriots in their efforts to deal with the contract situations of three of the club’s top defenders: Jamie Collins, Dont’a Hightower, and Malcolm Butler. Collins and Hightower are eligible for unrestricted free agency at the end of the 2016 season, whereas Butler is set to become a restricted free agent.

Hurns, like Butler, came into the league as an undrafted free agent, and like Butler, he was set to make $600K in 2016 before becoming a RFA in March 2017. But as Reiss points out, the four-year, $40MM deal Hurns inked with the Jags was tacked on to the final year of his UDFA contract, so Hurns is now effectively playing under a five-year, $40.6MM pact, which sounds a lot more reasonable for a player who enjoyed a successful 2015 campaign but who does not have a long track record of success or an impressive draft pedigree. Such an arrangement would seem to make a great deal of sense for Butler in particular, though Reiss says that an extension for any of the Butler/Collins/Hightower trio would likely be similar in concept and would benefit both sides, as the player gets coveted financial security while the team stays ahead of a rising market by being willing to strike a deal a year early.

Now let’s take a look at more on the Patriots:

In the same piece, Reiss says the Patriots did try to follow a similar contractual model with Devin McCourty as he entered the final year of his contract two seasons ago, but their offer was not enticing enough for McCourty. As a result, New England ended up having to pay McCourty at a market value that was higher than the club anticipated. Reiss therefore believes the Pats will be more proactive in their approach with their biggest free agents-to-be this time around.
Karen Guregian of The Boston Herald echoes the sentiments put forth by former NFL agent Joey Corry last week, saying that Butler needs to understand his contract will take a backseat for the time being given that he will only become a RFA when the 2017 league year begins and can be retained for 2017 for a relatively modest $4MM or so. In addition to Collins and Hightower, Guregian also mentioned Jabaal Sheard as a pending unrestricted free agent whose contract the team may try to address before Butler’s.
Christopher Price of WEEI.com offers an early 53-man roster projection for the Patriots.

Reactions To Chandler Jones Trade

March 16th, 2016 at 6:01pm CST by Zachary Links

On Tuesday, the Patriots and Cardinals completed a noteworthy deal when edge rusher Chandler Jones was shipped to Arizona in exchange for offensive lineman Jonathan Cooper and a second-round draft choice. The talented Jones is coming off of a career year in which he recorded 44 tackles to go along with a career-high 12.5 sacks, earning his first-ever Pro Bowl selection. The Pats, meanwhile, got themselves a former first-round pick who can play either center or guard while adding to their upcoming draft stockpile.

Here’s a look at some of the reactions to (and fallout from) the swap:

Now that the Patriots have traded Jones, re-signing outside linebacker Jamie Collins is a high priority, according to Jason Cole of Bleacher Report (video link). In 12 games last season, Collins racked up 89 tackles, 5.5 sacks, 6 passes defensed, 5 forced fumbles, and 1 interception. Collins is presently due to make a little north of $900K in 2016 and they believe that he is more likely to be receptive to an extension offer than Jones would have been. The Pats, Cole says, feel that they can get something done sooner rather than later.
The Cardinals are not expected to sign Jones to a long-term deal until after the 2016 season, according to Cole (video link). Once Calais Campbell‘s hefty contract comes off the books, Arizona will have more room to give Jones a big deal.
The Patriots probably saw the writing on the wall when Malik Jackson and Olivier Vernon got monster contracts this offseason, Jason Fitzgerald of Over The Cap writes. Based on the way both players were paid ($14.25MM/year for Jackson, $17MM/year for Vernon), Fitzgerald estimates that Jones was in line for close to $20MM/year, and that sum would have been too rich for New England’s blood. As for Cooper, Fitzgerald notes that the Patriots will probably decline his 2017 option. The lineman’s option year calls for him to earn well over $10MM but, as of right now, he’s more like a $3MM player.
Tom E. Curran of CSNNE.com ran down some of the main reasons why the Patriots traded Jones. Among them, of course, is the projected cost of a new deal for Jones down the line. He also notes that New England is in a good spot at defensive end. New England has Jabaal Sheard as well as an aging, but still productive, Rob Ninkovich to help pressure opposing quarterbacks. The Patriots are also hopeful that they can get production out of Geneo Grissom and Trey Flowers plus new addition Chris Long.
The Jones trade is reminiscent of the team’s Richard Seymour swap in 2009, ESPN.com’s Mike Reiss writes. The Pats shipped Seymour to the Raiders for a 2011 first-round choice at a time when the team was unsure about whether they’d be able to re-sign him after the season.
Collins, Dont’a Hightower, Logan Ryan, and Malcolm Butler (restricted) are all due to be free agents next year, and it would have been difficult to try and re-sign all of those contributors in addition to Jones, Bill Barnwell of ESPN.com writes. Of that group, Jones would have required the most money of anyone thanks to the way that Jackson and Vernon got paid this month. When it comes to Cooper, Barnwell wonders aloud if a change of scenery could turn things around for the former first-rounder.
Peter King of The MMQB says that the Patriots made the right choice when looking at the numbers. Of course, it also helps that the Pats were able to add Long. Long, he writes, gave up an extra $2-3MM that he could have instead earned with the Falcons, Lions, Washington, or Cowboys.

AFC East Notes: Aponte, Dolphins, Pats, Lewis

January 28th, 2016 at 10:19am CST by Luke Adams

Although there were some rumblings that longtime Dolphins executive Dawn Aponte would be heading to Detroit to help Lions GM Bob Quinn deal with contracts and the salary cap, Aponte will be staying in Miami, according to Andrew Abramson of the Palm Beach Post and Alex Marvez of FOX Sports (Twitter links).

Let’s check in on some more items from out of the AFC East…

The fact that Adam Gase retained nine coaches from the Dolphins‘ old coaching staff doesn’t mean that he had trouble finding better candidates, writes Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald. As Salguero explains, many of those coaches drew interest from other teams around the league, so it’s not as if they aren’t highly regarded — special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi, for instance, had four interview requests, all of which the Dolphins turned down, says Salguero.
While the Patriots will have some potential free agents to deal with this offseason, the team’s priority may be to lock up the “big four” defenders who could reach the open market after the 2016 season, says Mike Reiss of ESPN.com. New England has a little over a calendar year to explore extension for cornerback Malcolm Butler, defensive end Chandler Jones, and linebackers Jamie Collins and Dont’a Hightower. In Reiss’ view, the latter three players could all be in line for deals that exceed $8MM annually — Butler will be a restricted free agent, so he should be relatively affordable for at least one more year beyond 2016.
Running back Dion Lewis, who signed a contract extension with the Patriots in the fall, is currently on track to be recovered from his torn ACL in time to participate in training camp, writes Jeff Howe of the Boston Herald.

East Notes: Giants, Bills, J. Collins, Cooper

January 5th, 2016 at 8:17am CST by Luke Adams

In the wake of Tom Coughlin‘s departure, a report indicated that the Giants could consider their in-house assistants for the head coaching job, but offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo looks like a much more viable possibility than defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo. As Paul Schwartz of the New York Post writes, Spagnuolo is more likely to be one-and-done during his second stint as the Giants’ DC.

McAdoo, on the other hand, is viewed as a future head coach by Giants co-owner John Mara, who “sees a lot of Tom Coughlin in him,” an NFL source tells Ralph Vacchiano of the New York Daily News. One league source who spoke to Vacchiano suggests McAdoo will likely be a head coach somewhere within the next two or three years, meaning the Giants could have to decide this winter how much they like him. As the source puts it: “Do you want him coaching for you, or against you?”

While the Giants ponder that question and consider other possibilities for their head coaching job, let’s round up several more items from out of the NFL’s East divisions….

Bills general manager Doug Whaley recognizes that his future in Buffalo is tied to quarterback Tyrod Taylor at this point, so it makes sense that the GM would exercise patience in addressing Taylor’s contract, writes Tyler Dunne of The Buffalo News. As Dunne observes, it’s better for the Bills to make Taylor show he deserves a lucrative contract in 2016 than it would be for the team to extend him now and risk having another QB extension backfire.
As of this week, teams are permitted to finalize contract extensions with players selected in the 2013 draft who are still on their rookie deals, prompting Mike Reiss of ESPN.com to explore the possibility of a new pact for New England linebacker Jamie Collins. Reiss writes that the Patriots have had a Collins extension on their radar for a while, and speculates that it might take Bobby Wagner money (four years, $43MM) to lock up the former second-round pick.
Riley Cooper‘s time with the Eagles will likely come to an end this winter, according to Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer, who suggests that the wideout may end up being remembered in Philadelphia as “the poster boy for Chip Kelly‘s failed culture war.”
After spending big in free agency during his first year with the Jets, general manager Mike Maccagnan will face a different challenge this time around, as he focuses on roster depth and sustainability over short-term fixes, says Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News.