When the Cowboys signed offensive lineman La’el Collins on Thursday, many assumed that the decision came only after police in Baton Rouge officially cleared him in connection with a double-murder investigation. Per a source with knowledge of the situation, that hasn’t happened -- and it may never happen.
It doesn’t mean Collins is or ever will be a suspect. It means that police aren’t inclined to paint themselves into a corner by committing to a conclusion that, in theory, further evidence could contradict.
That ultimately didn’t stop the Cowboys or, per a league source, upwards of 25 other teams. That’s roughly how many were interested in signing Collins based on independent investigations of the situation.
Collins ultimately signed with the Cowboys, getting a three-year, fully-guaranteed, $1.65-million contract. Per a source with knowledge of the deal, it has no offset language.
Collins can sign a new contract after only two seasons. Given the sympathy owner Jerry Jones expressed on Thursday for the events that caused Collins, a first-round prospect, to go undrafted, it’ll be interesting to see whether the Cowboys give him in two years the contract he would have gotten if none of this had happened.