What you need to know about La’el Collins and his currently situation

Many people are contacting us and talking crazy about the situation of La’el Collins, so I wanted to take the time and enlighten some people on the current situation of La’el Collins. 

La’el Collins was projected as a first round pick, but a few days before the draft, Collins ex-girlfriend Brittney Mills was shot and killed.  Mills was pregnant with a baby, that many believe Collins could be the father of.  Well after several days, the baby also passed away.  This all happened the week of the NFL Draft.  While the Baton Rouge Police Department have said that Collins was not a suspect, they still wanted to speak with him.  

Collins had no problem meeting with the Police, but the Police said they would question him after the draft.  That had many NFL teams scared and ultimately led to him being undrafted.  So what does that mean? 

Well basically, Collins lost millions of dollars, an ex girlfriend and a potential baby all in one week.  He has been listening to his agents and attorney’s but obviously he is frustrated with the situation, as every person would be (especially if you know you are not guilty). 

So last night Collins went out to dinner with Rex Ryan.  Many called the meeting an unsanctioned meeting.  What does that mean?  It is simple, Rex called La’el Collins and said let’s go to dinner.  Rex did not call his agent, Rex just went and picked up Collins and took him to dinner.  Rex does not have to call the agent, because obviously Collins (the client) made his decision.  In a contract situation, the player is the boss. So technically, Collins said screw my agent and went to dinner. 

Collins might be fed up with the way his agent has handled the situation (Assuming) and just said “F” my agent and went to dinner.  So what can NFL teams do to get La’el Collins on their team. Well let’s review that situation. 

The contract:

Many people are trying to say, give him 2nd round money to come on the team, or give him tons of incentives, well listen that sounds great but you cannot do it, under the CBA.  He is  currently an undrafted free agent, which means he can only sign a three year deal.  

Every undrafted rookie is locked into signing a three year contract. The three year contract will contain the minimum Paragraph 5 salary in each year, which will equal payouts of $435,000 in 2015, $525,000 in 2016, and $615,000 in 2017. These are the same numbers as rookies drafted after the 3rd round and many of the players drafted in the third round. 

So what could a team to make it more attractive?

 Well the team could guarantee the entire contract, which means the team would guarantee the $1,575,000 contract. The team could also offer performance base deals, which is calculated by the NFL’s formula.  This happens when a player plays every snap and performs well. For example, as a rookie undrafted standout Vontaze Burfict led all NFL players in performance-based pay, making $299,465 (his salary was $390,000). In 2014, Burfict’s performance-based pay was even better: Burfict gets an additional bonus of $315,848. Which means Burfict made 615,000 dollars in performance base pay. 

An NFL team also has 88,000 dollars for signing bonus money. A team can offer him the entire amount if they have it remaining. Remember, many players have already been signed, but that 88,000 dollars has to be used for every player signed.  Once a team runs out of signing bonus money, they cannot issue anymore. 

So Collins could technically make the same amount as Burfict.  Another thing to remember is under a UDFA deal, the agent can begin renegotiating a contract after the 2nd year.  So if Collins was to make 615,000 from Performance base as well as 1,575,000 dollars over his deal, he could land a new contract in 2017.  If he was signed to a 4 year deal worth 25 million dollars, he would basically make more money than the players drafted in the first round of this year’s draft.  

So basically it is up to Collins, because right now he can choose any team, but no team can offer a better deal than that above.