Jamie Collins is a Pro-Bowler

Oswlek said:

Considering how well HT and Collins are playing, is Mayo a full time LB when he returns?

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Possibly not. But depth is good, he provides tremendous leadership, he elevates the base defense, and I have to think BB will find creative ways to use him. Unless someone wants to trade a lot for him, which seems pretty unlikely.

Joey007 said:

His tackling has improved and overall is improving by the week... my dreams of him becoming our Lavonte David are soon to be realized!

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Jonathan Casillas on Collins:

“Lights out,” Casillas said. “He’s a man out there. He’s young but he’s a big guy who can run. He can do everything. I mean, he could probably play safety if he wanted to. He could probably play running back if he wanted to.”

Casillas had more: “I don’t know what position he played in college, probably defensive end, but he can do pretty much anything. He can cover the best of the best and can rush the best of the best.”

“He’s a tremendous athlete. One of the most talented guys I’ve probably ever seen in the league, and I’ve played with a lot of multi-talented guys, multi-faceted guys. He’s up there with them. And he’s young, so the sky is the limit.”

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http://blog.masslive.com/patriots/2014/12/jamie_collins_new_england_patr.html

Casillas played with Lavonte David prior to joining the Pats.

Wait, I'm confused.
I thought that Collins was a wasted draft pick because we didn't need a LB. (Last night we had zero LBs on the field who were on the roster before Collins was drafted, btw)
I thought he was only a sub package LB who couldn't play the run, take on a block, or make a tackle.

MrNathanDrake said:

What if we go with Collins, Hightower, Ayers as LB's next year.

Ayers will be a lot cheaper than Mayo, and he'll have to move to OLB when Chandler Jones comes back anyways.

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The economics of the NFL make that a real possibility.
We play 3 LBs maybe 20% of the time any more, probably less. Even if thats because of a lack of depth at best it was 50% of the time.
Collins, HT and Mayo all belong on the field in every personnel grouping.
Paying Mayo that much money sadly is wasted because it represents his value on 20% of the plays over a JAG and on 80% of the plays as a rotational guy who at best only offers a minimal improvement in some ways over the other 2 who would be out there.
The way our defense is now, adding Mayo to what we are doing today would essential be depth to help HT and Collins stay fresh.
We are certainly a better defense with him, but may be a better team spending his cap money elsewhere.

I think Collins needed to get enough playing time to get comfortable and the right position that plays into his strengths.
He showed promise towards end of 2013.
Same thing as Ninko. He excels as a DE, as opposed to LB.