The Commanders are set to release Landon Collins (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport). The two sides tried to come to terms on a pay cut, but the safety preferred to try his luck on the open market.
The old regime gave Collins a six-year, $84MM deal in 2019. That pact made him the first safety in league history to crack the $14MM/year mark. Now, midway through the megadeal, the Commanders are going to bid farewell to the 28-year-old. Releasing Collins will save $6.6MM against roughly $10MM in dead money for 2022.
By all accounts, the Commanders would have been happy to keep Collins — just not at his $16.1MM cap figure. To his credit, Collins was mostly healthy in 2021, appearing in 13 games as a linebacker/safety. Plenty of teams will have interest in the veteran, though he won’t match his previous deal. This year’s safety market — headlined by the likes of Marcus Williams, Tyrann Mathieu, and Jessie Bates III – offers more bang for the buck elsewhere.
Collins finished 2021 with 81 tackles, two interceptions, two fumble recoveries, and three sacks across 13 games. Now, he’ll look to reassert himself elsewhere when free agency opens on March 16.
actually…if he is cut before free agency…he can sign anywhere before free agency opens..as a street free agent.
I’m interested to see where he lands and if someone tries to keyhole him back to safety. He can play it, just not full time and is valuable as the LB hybrid position.
Didn’t Jesse Bates get a franchise tag from the Bengals?
“This year’s safety market — headlined by the likes of Marcus Williams, Tyrann Mathieu, and Jessie Bates III – offers more bang for the buck elsewhere.”
link to nfl.com
Also those guys are going to cost a lot more bucks (and are completely different molds of safety from Collins).
Raiders baby
Hoping the Giants want a reunion , although he doesn’t play o line so it may not do much …
Hoping for a Chiefs reunion with Spags, the last DC he had when he was a pro bowler. Play Box safety on early downs and replace sorenson as the big safety hybrid lb on passing downs.