What Would La’el Collins Cost in Trade?

[*bfine32*]

(03-12-2022, 08:47 AM)Synric Wrote: I can understand why people would be down on La'el Collins as he has some red flags. I just break it down as a low risk/high reward situation.

First I look at his injury history which isnt bad he missed 2020 with a hip but came back and played at a very high level in 2021 so no worries there. Then it's the suspension and that's ugly but we see suspensions of these kind alot in the NFL. Last year Pooka Williams was suspended from PEDs before that it was Alex Redmond, Vontaze Burfict, Bobby Williams... 

I see the suspension as having a positive and negative result. Negative is if he does something again then he will receive a season long suspension. Now the positive is he forfeits all guarenteed money in his contract that essentially turns Collin's contract into 3 separate 1 year 10 mil each with zero dead money if the Bengals decide to move on from him.


La'el Collins' play on the field speaks for itself. He is one of the best Right Tackles in the NFL and plays with a nasty streak that could set the tone for the rest of the Bengal's Offensive Line. Looking at the Tackle Free Agency he is better than every one of them and because of his contract situation he isn't locked in for multiple years like any of the other guys would be in the Bengals bring them in. As for the draft unlike last year there isn't an Offensive Tackle I would be comfortable going into the season with as a starter that will likely be available at #31 or #63.

Because of the one big red flag I don't want to give up a high draft pick but as I suggested a swap would be the best option allowing them to keep at least 3 picks in the top 100.

Low Risk/High Reward.


Edit: Also if the Bengals really do get Ryan Jensen as it's been hinted at from every direction. I wonder if they could slip in Trey Hopkins as part of the deal for La'el Collins since they need IOL. Hopkins cap hit would be cheap for them (5.8mil) with only a 200k roster bonus as the only guaranteed money.

It was a little more than just a simple PED suspension. He only received 2 games initially, but he appealed upon appeal the tester asserted Collins tried to  bribe him. Thar shows a willingness not to take ownership of his actions. And that's the character issue I think this team will have with him.

Everyone reading this thread knows how good LC is on the field, but we must consider the message it sends to the locker room. Does the message of "we're doing everything we can to protect Burrow" outweigh the message of "all that high character talk was a bunch of BS".

Personally I've said if he comes with no guaranteed money and we could get him for a mid-round draft pick. But I' not going to snarkily assert that folks that want nothing to do with him are "resident experts".

Finally...NEVER, EVER spell Bobbie's name wrong again..