Jerry Jones and the Dallas Cowboys are reportedly pulling out all the stops to land undrafted free agent lineman La'El Collins.
"Outgoing LSU standout left tackle La'El Collins flew to Dallas Wednesday and received red carpet treatment from Cowboys owner Jerry Jones," Chad Sabadie of WVUE New Orleans wrote.
"Jones hosted Collins at his private residence, along with quarterback Tony Romo and the Cowboys' offensive line.
"Dallas is making a strong push to sign Collins, who is now a free agent after going undrafted last week."
Collins, originally projected as a sure-fire first-round pick, was wanted for questioning by authorities regarding the shooting death of his ex-girlfriend and her unborn child, but was not named a suspect in the case. Still, the incident caused him to fall off the draft board completely.
But he is being sought after by several teams as an undrafted free agent. Clarence Hill of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports that Collins will take his time to make this decision and teams shouldn't expect a conclusion to this courtship anytime soon.
What will be interesting to see is what kind of contract Collins receives. As an undrafted free agent, a likely deal would be for a total of three years and $1.575 million in base salary, according to Jordan Raanan of NJ.com. A signing bonus worth roughly $87,000 could be added. That's a far cry from the first-round money Collins would have been making. But one benefit of being an undrafted free agent is that he will have the right to renegotiate his contract after two seasons.
Since the financials are significantly reduced, Collins may focus on finding the best fit in free agency. He has stated his preference to remain at tackle, but Dallas has Tyron Smith locked in on the left side for close to a decade. However, right tackle Doug Free is 31-year-old. Perhaps Collins would be Free's eventual replacement in Dallas.
