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The Cincinnati Bengals got free agent La’el Collins in town and simply didn’t let go, doing whatever it took to get the star offensive tackle on the line in front of Joe Burrow.
The effort from the front office was enough to keep other teams at bay, too.
Specifically, the New England Patriots made a “competitive offer” for Collins and the Carolina Panthers were in the race too, according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.
Both New England and Carolina made plenty of sense as landing spots for Collins, too, given the needs and cap space in those locales.
But as Collins told the media after signing his deal, no place had offensive line coach Frank Pollack, who he worked with for years in Dallas. And no place has Joe Burrow — who played a key role in the recruiting effort over the weekend.
It has to be refreshing for Bengals fans to see the saga of a slipping-away free agent actually choose the team anyway. And it has to be equally refreshing to see it come at the expense of someone as prestigious as Bill Belichick and the Patriots, especially while saying something like this:
“What other team would you want to be a part of?” — La’el Collins on signing with the Bengals
— Chris Roling (@Chris_Roling) March 20, 2022
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