Off the grid for a while after multiple October workouts, La’el Collins has resurfaced. The Bills brought in the veteran blocker for a Friday workout, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets.
This is close to being a lost season for Collins, who may end up attempting to follow in Jimmy Graham and Odell Beckham Jr.‘s footsteps by skipping a season and returning the following year. The Bengals released Collins from their reserve/PUP list in September, and while several teams checked on the experienced tackle, no deal emerged. The Jets and Giants met with Collins in October.
Collins’ ACL and MCL tears occurred in Week 16 of last season. Prior to that, he was Cincinnati’s unquestioned starter at right tackle. The Cowboys used Collins as such from 2017-19 and again, following a missed season, in 2021. After the Cowboys had extended Collins twice, they made him a 2021 post-June 1 cut. The Bengals swooped in, giving Collins a three-year, $21M deal in 2022. But they were not too thrilled about their investment. The team shifted course in March, giving Orlando Brown Jr. a $16M-per-year deal and kicking Jonah Williams to the right side.
Buffalo has Dion Dawkins and Spencer Brown in place at tackle, with rookie Ryan Van Demark as the swingman. The team just waived veteran Germain Ifedi, who had resided on the roster all season. Ifedi, however, did not see any action for the Bills this year. Neither Dawkins nor Brown have missed any time this season; in what has thus far been a clean year for Buffalo’s tackles, Van Demark has only played 37 offensive snaps.
On the verge of sitting out his age-30 season, Collins has 86 starts on his resume. He added three more in the playoffs. A team could look to bring in Collins as a practice squad stash ahead of the postseason. Barring that, the eight-year veteran is close to needing to regroup and aim to catch on during unrestricted free agency next year.
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