LSU tackle La’el Collins’s bid to remove himself from consideration for the draft has reportedly been denied by the NFL.
The NFL announced Thursday that Collins will not be allowed to take himself out of the draft pool and then become eligible for the supplemental draft, a move he hoped to make because of the impact that a murder investigation in Baton Rouge, Louisiana is having on his draft stock.
Collins is not considered a suspect in the murder of his ex-girlfriend Brittany Mills, who was pregnant at the time of her death, but the police want to interview him as part of their investigation. His connection to the case led him to leave Chicago, where he was planning to attend the draft, and multiple reports that teams are dropping him from their draft board because of the uncertainty of his relation to what happened to Mills.
Collins is expected to talk to the police after the draft concludes on Saturday, by which point we’ll know if he’ll then try to land a contract as a free agent or if a team decides to spend a pick on a player who was considered a good bet to get picked in the first round just a few days ago.
