Did they name him a suspect?  As far as I know, they've never publicly said that.  Not saying he isn't one, but they obviously don't have enough evidence to say that yet.

 

No I know he's not been named a suspect publicly at this point.  I was basically saying they wouldn't name him as such unless they already had a good amount of evidence suggesting he might be involved.  Based on what is currently public knowledge though, he has to be considered a suspect even if they haven't stated it publicly.  I'm interested to see the paternity test results as I'm sure the police are.  

 

As a GM or coach, I wouldn't touch him for right now.  It's not shocking that Rex Ryan was the first one down there trying to lay the ground work with him though and I kinda like Rex, but I'm glad he's not our coach.

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No I know he's not been named a suspect publicly at this point.  I was basically saying they wouldn't name him as such unless they already had a good amount of evidence suggesting he might be involved.  Based on what is currently public knowledge though, he has to be considered a suspect even if they haven't stated it publicly.  I'm interested to see the paternity test results as I'm sure the police are.  

 

As a GM or coach, I wouldn't touch him for right now.  It's not shocking that Rex Ryan was the first one down there trying to lay the ground work with him though and I kinda like Rex, but I'm glad he's not our coach.

Gotcha.  Yeah, hard to say what the case looks like that they are building.  Collins could very well be innocent or their #1 suspect.

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Gotcha.  Yeah, hard to say what the case looks like that they are building.  Collins could very well be innocent or their #1 suspect.

Exactly.  That's why teams are sitting on their hands.  They don't want to be the team who signed a guy who has been charged with murder.  If/when he's eliminated as a suspect and the police issue that statement, I would imagine he'll go from talking to teams to signing very quickly.  It'll be interesting to see what kind of a deal he'd land coming into the league outside of the draft. 

 

The league really screwed the guy over by not letting him pull out of this draft.  By going undrafted, he can negotiate with any team, but he's not going to get a deal close to what he probably would have by being selected in the draft.

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Never argue with idiots. They drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.

Exactly.  That's why teams are sitting on their hands.  They don't want to be the team who signed a guy who has been charged with murder.  If/when he's eliminated as a suspect and the police issue that statement, I would imagine he'll go from talking to teams to signing very quickly.  It'll be interesting to see what kind of a deal he'd land coming into the league outside of the draft. 

 

The league really screwed the guy over by not letting him pull out of this draft.  By going undrafted, he can negotiate with any team, but he's not going to get a deal close to what he probably would have by being selected in the draft.

Then you would have every player that see his draft stock sliding for various reasons requesting to get out of the draft.  I don't think the league screwed him at all.

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Then you would have every player that see his draft stock sliding for various reasons requesting to get out of the draft. I don't think the league screwed him at all.

Agreed. By allowing Collins to withdraw from the draft the league could be opening up a whole new can of worms for future prospects who could also request to withdraw from the draft as they see their stock begins to slip for whatever reasons.


IMO Collins screwed himself by dragging his feet not talking to the police. The police have been trying to talk to him for a while but up until Monday have only spoken with his lawyer.

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"Before you criticize a man, walk a mile in his shoes. That way, if he gets angry, he's a mile away and barefoot."

Then you would have every player that see his draft stock sliding for various reasons requesting to get out of the draft.  I don't think the league screwed him at all.

 

Yeah, I'm not expecting this to become a trend, and the request came in before the draft.  Had he put this request in during the draft when his stock really evaporated, then I could see their unwillingness.  As soon as the story broke, his value nose dived.  His agent did the smart thing trying to get him out of the draft.  If it turns out he was indeed innocent of any wrong doing, then the league did stick it to him by costing him potentially millions. 

 

He'll never recoup that money.  What he can do is once his name is cleared, go out and sign a 1 year deal with a team, then go about earning a starting position.  If he's able to do so, he'll be in a position to negotiate a decent bump in pay from there.  Still, he's never going to see the potential windfall he would have had he been selected early in the draft.

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Never argue with idiots. They drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.

Yeah, I'm not expecting this to become a trend, and the request came in before the draft.  Had he put this request in during the draft when his stock really evaporated, then I could see their unwillingness.  As soon as the story broke, his value nose dived.  His agent did the smart thing trying to get him out of the draft.  If it turns out he was indeed innocent of any wrong doing, then the league did stick it to him by costing him potentially millions. 

 

He'll never recoup that money.  What he can do is once his name is cleared, go out and sign a 1 year deal with a team, then go about earning a starting position.  If he's able to do so, he'll be in a position to negotiate a decent bump in pay from there.  Still, he's never going to see the potential windfall he would have had he been selected early in the draft.

Then you will have the player that gets a DUI days before the draft wanting to get out of the draft on the chance that a lawyer will get him off.  I know that is completely other end of spectrum from this but that is how people would work the system.  The league was only half of a member of the CBA the NFLPA was the other half and they both agreed on the rule. 

 

Who screwed him is the investigators on this.  If he truly is not a suspect then go ahead and tell the teams he is not a suspect.  And if it were me I would have been on the first plane to clear my name beating on the police station door knowing how it would change my draft status.  I think this one may be down a dark road in the coming days and weeks personally.

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Agreed. By allowing Collins to withdraw from the draft the league could be opening up a whole new can of worms for future prospects who could also request to withdraw from the draft as they see their stock begins to slip for whatever reasons.


IMO Collins screwed himself by dragging his feet not talking to the police. The police have been trying to talk to him for a while but up until Monday have only spoken with his lawyer.

 

I'd agree that it could create a problem if he was asking to be pulled from consideration JUST because he thought his draft stock was going to fall, and not for some specific reason like trying to clear himself of potential murder charges. 

 

Collins' attorney was talking to BRPD from almost the very beginning.  That's not unusual.  He left Chicago on Tuesday of last week to go back to Baton Rouge.  The police still didn't speak to him until yesterday.  That's not on him.  If he wasn't a suspect, BRPD could have made that clear, but they haven't come out and made a statement beyond what we already know. 

 

This guy was a first round prospect, and possibly a top 20 selection.  The league had ample time to agree to let him withdraw from the draft so that once he cleared his name, he could at least enter the league with a draft value.  They refused.  Again, this is a unique situation.  Not something that's going to suddenly become all the rage.

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Never argue with idiots. They drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.

Then you will have the player that gets a DUI days before the draft wanting to get out of the draft on the chance that a lawyer will get him off.  I know that is completely other end of spectrum from this but that is how people would work the system.  The league was only half of a member of the CBA the NFLPA was the other half and they both agreed on the rule. 

 

Who screwed him is the investigators on this.  If he truly is not a suspect then go ahead and tell the teams he is not a suspect.  And if it were me I would have been on the first plane to clear my name beating on the police station door knowing how it would change my draft status.  I think this one may be down a dark road in the coming days and weeks personally.

 

Again, I don't think this kind of consideration would be applied to that situation, but more than likely that's how the league viewed it.  This is a kid who as of today hasn't been charged with a crime, and very well may never be charged.  Very different situation from a playe3r getting a DUI days before the draft.

 

I agree that BRPD didn't do him any favors.  But, there may be reason for them not coming out right away and saying they've cleared him of any suspicion.  Odds are, his lawyer was the reason why he wasn't promptly flying back to LA. 

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Never argue with idiots. They drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.

A team can't really go out and give him a really big deal, can they?  Wouldn't he have to be apart of the rookie pool of money?

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Again, I don't think this kind of consideration would be applied to that situation, but more than likely that's how the league viewed it. This is a kid who as of today hasn't been charged with a crime, and very well may never be charged. Very different situation from a playe3r getting a DUI days before the draft.


I agree that BRPD didn't do him any favors. But, there may be reason for them not coming out right away and saying they've cleared him of any suspicion. Odds are, his lawyer was the reason why he wasn't promptly flying back to LA.

His lawyer did him no favors and neither did his agent who obviously wasn't well versed in the CBA. His agent blacklisted him as a potential draft pick for any team considering drafting him outside the 3rd round with the declaration that he won't sign a contract and will just re-enter the draft next year. Obviously that's not a possibility.

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"Before you criticize a man, walk a mile in his shoes. That way, if he gets angry, he's a mile away and barefoot."

I never liked Collins as a prospect. I would have taken him late, but I don't see what every one likes about him. I think he's overrated. 

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A team can't really go out and give him a really big deal, can they?  Wouldn't he have to be apart of the rookie pool of money?

 

According to Andrew Brandt he would be part of the rookie pool and thus earn a limited amount, especially compared to a first rounder.

 

Also, he apparently can't just sign a one year deal; it would be a three year contract. Which at least gets him to a lucrative second contract faster than a first rounder, if he's any good. 

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The sun's not yellow, it's chicken.

If the police just want to question him why is he in such danger of not being drafted at all? I mean I don't profess to know anything about college players but this guy was pegged to go in the 1st round just a few days ago. It would seem to me that he would be worth a pick later in the draft right? I know it's a gamble but if he's not a suspect in the murder isn't the gamble worth it?

 

Staying away from that guy like he has the plague for good reason.

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La'El Collins not father of unborn child

La'El Collins | CLG

(May 6, 2015 8:49 PM EDT)


The results of a paternity test administered to LSU T/G La'El Collins showed that he is not the father of murder victim Brittney Mills' child.

Collins also passed a polygraph test in connection with the investigation into Mills and her unborn child's murders. Baton Route (LA) police continue to view Collins as a non-suspect. He isn't even seen as a "person of interest" in the case.


SOURCE: JOSINA ANDERSON ON TWITTER

Now would be a good time for Caldwell and Gus to start recruiting this guy.

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"Before you criticize a man, walk a mile in his shoes. That way, if he gets angry, he's a mile away and barefoot."

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Now would be a good time for Caldwell and Gus to start recruiting this guy.

 

Wasn't he on our Senior Bowl team? I seem to recall a video clip of Bosselli coaching up the OL, and I thought one of them was La'el.

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Wasn't he on our Senior Bowl team? I seem to recall a video clip of Bosselli coaching up the OL, and I thought one of them was La'el.

Yeah he was there. He also was brought in for a visit so he should be pretty familiar with our staff.

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Go get him Dave 

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<B><FONT color=cyan>Jags this is your year</FONT></B>

Looks like this kid may be clean after all. It really sucks what this could have potentially done to his career in the short term. If he is indeed completely innocent, and it looks as if he may be, I wish him nothing but the best where ever he ends up.

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<i>Behold man's final mad disgrace.</i>

<i>He chops his nose to spite his face.</i>

 

-Etrigan the Demon