La’El Collins may be the most polarizing undrafted free agent in NFL Draft history. The former LSU offensive lineman was poised to be drafted in the first round before a report came out linking him to a murder investigation and teams swiftly removed them from their draft boards.
While it has been said that the police only want to speak with Collins and he is not a suspect, he lost millions in the process as teams are hesitant to draft him. Now it seems there will be a bidding war for Collins’ signature once he is cleared of any wrongdoing, and it seems Rex Ryan is interested in the big tackle.
Buffalo Bills coach Rex Ryan passed through Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and had an unsanctioned meeting Monday evening with former LSU offensive linemanLa’el Collins, a source confirmed to ESPN.
Ryan was in the area, called Collins and asked if they could meet, the source said. The meeting, which was earlier reported by The New Orleans Advocate, was not cleared through Collins’ representatives.
Collins, who was not selected in last week’s NFL draft, was interviewed by police earlier Monday about the shooting death of a 29-year-old pregnant woman in Baton Rouge.
“It went fine; we answered all their questions,” Collins’ attorney, Jim Boren, told reporters. “La’el is not going to make any comments. I’m not going to have any comments. The investigation is going to continue. La’el is now going to start making an effort to start getting his football career back on track.”
Police have not named Collins as a suspect — or even a person of interest — in the murder investigation. Collins’ former girlfriend, Brittney Mills, 29, was shot to death April 24 after opening the front door of her Baton Rouge home. She died of multiple shots to her torso; her unborn child survived the shooting but died a week later in the hospital.
It’s possible Collins will be asked to return for more questioning, Baton Rouge Police public information officer Don Coppola told Gannett Louisiana.
“There is that possibility of more questioning of Mr. Collins,” Coppola told Gannett Louisiana. “No one can be ruled out until an arrest has been made.”
I still feel some kind of way about this news coming out just before the draft and it ruining Collins’ draft stock. I get that the police have a job to do and part of it is investigating everyone connected to the victim, but this was absolutely horrible timing for them to leak the info since Collins isn’t a suspect or a person of interest.
Hopefully the kid is able to get this all behind him eventually and he will go on to have a successful career.