After a week that saw veterans Blake Jarwin and Greg Zuerlein released and Amari Cooper traded away, it appears another longtime Cowboy is about to follow.
Right tackle La’el Collins has been given permission by the club to seek a trade, according to NFL insider Adam Schefter. The 2015 undrafted free agent started 71 of 74 games played for the Cowboys, though he missed the entire 2020 season due to injury and another five games in 2021 after a suspension. It was learned on Thursday that the Cowboys reportedly were “having active trade conversations” with interested teams.
The news that Collins and his agents have also been given the okay to pursue offers could indicate that those trade talks did not go far. Schefter adds that if a trade partner is not found, Collins could simply be released outright by Dallas.
Dallas has given permission to starting RT La'el Collins to seek a trade, according to his new agent Peter Schaffer. Dallas needs cap room and Collins was scheduled to make $15.25 million this season. Likely to be released if no trade.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 12, 2022
ESPN’s Todd Archer notes that the Cowboys believe “Terence Steele is their right tackle of the present and future.” Signed in 2020 as an undrafted free agent, Steele stepped in right away, starting 27 games over his first two seasons and impressing coaches with his play.
He filled in for Collins so well that the team would now prefer to move forward without Collins, his $10 million salary, or his $15.25 million cap hit. Teams like the Bengals, Broncos, and Dolphins are seen as possible landing spots for the LSU product.
As Cowboys Wire has laid out, Collins might net as much as a top-80 selection in a trade, but the move would only save Dallas $1.3 million this year… unless they waited until after June 1 to trade him. There’s also $8.7 million of cap savings landing in either 2022 or 2023, depending on when they move him, if they do. Eating the full Collins hit now gives the team another $15 million of 2023 space and $13 million of 2024 space.
There’s a lot of hypothetical math with the different scenarios, but the numbers all seemingly add up to say the same thing: Collins is on his way out of Dallas. The only real X factors are when… and how.
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