Patriots getting the band back together, sign Jamie Collins

Who knows? Maybe he can follow the same type of path that Chung did when we signed him again back in 2014. It should be for low dollars so why not throw it at the wall and see if it sticks? Fingers crossed.

After all this speculation, Collins will most likely sign elsewhere.

This should be fun. BB loves this ****.
Vet min would make it perfect circle..

If it is cheap why not. Given his last two years in Cleveland I am not expecting any major impacy from him but always good to have depth.

Was the stuff about freelancing true? Seemed like it. If so was it all because of wanting to make plays to get a bigger payday?

What about that would change if he's brought here? Will he just want to play to win and do what is expected? Or what if he comes here on a 1 year deal and starts to play really well. So well that by December he's thinking about a last big payday potential next year and starts freelancing again?

IDK I trust the team but I'm not going to get my hopes up.

fnordcircle said:

Was the stuff about freelancing true? Seemed like it. If so was it all because of wanting to make plays to get a bigger payday?

What about that would change if he's brought here? Will he just want to play to win and do what is expected? Or what if he comes here on a 1 year deal and starts to play really well. So well that by December he's thinking about a last big payday potential next year and starts freelancing again?

IDK I trust the team but I'm not going to get my hopes up.

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I think the main difference is that back then he was one of the starters. Now he'd be essentially depth behind HT and KVN. So if he starts to clown around again he can be gone immediately.

fnordcircle said:

Was the stuff about freelancing true? Seemed like it. If so was it all because of wanting to make plays to get a bigger payday?

What about that would change if he's brought here? Will he just want to play to win and do what is expected? Or what if he comes here on a 1 year deal and starts to play really well. So well that by December he's thinking about a last big payday potential next year and starts freelancing again?

IDK I trust the team but I'm not going to get my hopes up.

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Yeah, he did it in Cleveland too when he was already paid. Browns fans hated him.

Man, I am surprised at BB's attempts to get the band back together this season.

A Defiant Goose said:

I was baffled that they traded him away. Glad to see him back. Hopefully he learned his lessons after 3 years in the pen

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He's weak at the point of attack, nowhere near as good as he should be in coverage, and inconsistent with his effort. Why would you be baffled by BB trading away such a player, rather than paying him?

As long as he doesn't bite on play action routes up the seam and comes relatively cheap....SIGN ME UP!!!

SBLIII said:

I don't see him making the roster.

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He had 104 tackles last year. That's more than anyone on the Pats.

robertweathers said:

This is one of those moves whereas if it was any other coach I'd be saying, "What and idiot. Waste of time bringing in that lolly-gagger."

But since its BB and there is a history, I won't call BB an idiot but until proven otherwise, Collins is still a lolly-gagger.

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Not a huge fan of this move

Deus Irae said:

He's weak at the point of attack, nowhere near as good as he should be in coverage, and inconsistent with his effort. Why would you be baffled by BB trading away such a player, rather than paying him?

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Because at the time he was traded I did not think he was weak at the point of attack, found him to be good in coverage, and most of his inconsistencies (free-roaming mostly) seemed be coachable things. In hindsight after everyone did their typical "Well of course we traded him, he sucked!" routine we typically do after surprising moves, I wasn't as baffled anymore but let's not act like it didn't surprise a lot of us.

ETA: Our depth at the time after cutting him was also something I distinctly remember being worried about

TommyBrady12 said:

Mayo is a new coach. Doubt Bill called him up. Besides, Bill has worked with Collins in the past and knows what he’s all about.

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I sure hope the team doesn't work the way you're describing.

All the relevant comments have been laid out there for us. Let me consolidate them.

On the plus side.

1. If this is half as successful as the last time we brought back a prodigal son, it's a no brainer.

2. Collins WAS a star when he was traded, and was paid as one when he got to Cleveland and and no NFL analyst was surprised.

3. And while it didn't work out for him in Cleveland (what a surprise in that) he didn't exactly suck. 104 tackles and 4 sacks is more than just "good" production. We all thought that KVN had a SUPER season and his stat were pretty much the same (94/3.5)

I was actually surprised to see that he produced that much last season, as he seemed to have disappeared from any prominence. So CLEARLY he still has some football left.

4. His teammates really liked him. He certainly won't be a problem there.

5. And probably the most important reason. He is a great blitzer. This is a team that "manufactures QB pressure. They want to disguise who's coming and the superbowl was a great example. The Pats most rushed just 4 or 5, but which 4 was a question the Rams clearly couldn't solve. When you have a great secondary, this can be daunting to an offense. Adding ANOTHER accomplish LB blitzer makes a lot of sense.

On the negative side:

1. While the biggest factor in trading Collins was his future contract demands, there WERE definitely some football issues too . His lack of discipline was a factor . So the issue of "coachability" is a legitimate question. We will just have to see.

2. Reports of him taking plays off are disturbing, though they don't exactly jibe with his production. I don't think THAT was a problem when he was here, so I don't expect it to pop up here.

Money - This will be an issue for any FA. I hope that it will be a very incentive laden deal with few guarantees beyond say a $2MM salary

Summary:

The more I checked into Collins' stats while in Cleveland, the more I like this move. Actually I'm getting excited even while writing this. I was wondering what we'd be doing to add to our pass rush. If Collins is even close to the speed he had coming into the league, this will be a steal of a signing.

Hopefully, he's grown up and will buy in, because his raw talent is rare.

50-yard-line said:

He had 104 tackles last year. That's more than anyone on the Pats.

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And worse in coverage than anyone on the Pats as well. He will not replace HT or KVN. And most probably he'd also not Bentley given the difference in projected contracts (1 year vet deal vs. 4 year rookie deal) and age.

Not much space left.

TommyBrady12 said:

Not a huge fan of this move

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Nor should you.

If he wants to come here and ball out to rebuild his value for other teams in 2020 I’m all for it.

Seems like an agent leak to get whatever team his agent is negotiating with a better contract.
Edit. Happy to be wrong.