LSU coach Les Miles engaged in a passionate defense of his former player La’el Collins, and tried to make that case with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. But Goodell didn’t take his call.
Miles told the Times-Picayune that he wanted to make a personal plea to Goodell to allow Collins to enter the supplemental draft after questions were raised about the murder of Collins’s ex-girlfriend. As it turned out, Collins went from a first-round prospect to an undrafted free agent, which will cost him millions of dollars. After Collins talked to police this week they said he is not a suspect, and he signed with the Cowboys today.
“I called him and I was told it’s damn near impossible for me to get through,” Miles said. “Why wouldn’t that [supplemental draft] be what it’s for. Explain to me why that’s not perfect for this [situation]. Some guys would have passed and some said yeah. He [Collins] would have gotten his spot. This is a guy who is still going to make money, long term. I’d like to see an adjustment made now.”
The reason the supplemental draft wouldn’t have been the perfect fit for Collins is that the Collective Bargaining Agreement specifically states that a player can’t remove himself from the regular draft and put himself in the supplemental draft. There was no way for the NFL to change that rule for Collins on the day of the draft, as his agent requested, and a call from Miles to Goodell wouldn’t have changed that.
Still, Miles has a point when he says Collins got a raw deal in all this.
“He could have been put in a supplemental draft and paid his market value,” Miles said. “What I’d like to see is a guy who’s really performed well for our team, given us great leadership, continued to raise his level headed toward draft day, be given just and fair market value.”
Unfortunately for Miles, he’ll have to wait until his second contract to get paid like the great player that Miles thinks he’s going to be.
