La'el Collins will likely soon be free from a murder investigation that prevented him from getting drafted. NFL teams are lining up for his services.
After having unofficial visits with the Bills and Dolphins earlier in the week, Collins has his first official free-agent visit scheduled with the Cowboys, according to the Baton Rouge Advocate. The Patriots have also reportedly reached out to the former LSU offensive lineman, who was considered a top 20 draft prospect prior to the investigation in Baton Rouge, La.
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Collins is not considered a suspect in the April 24 murder of 29-year-old Brittney Mills, who was eight months pregnant at the time of her death. Her baby boy was delivered but died a week later. Collins, 21, is not the baby's father and he has passed a polygraph test, according to reports Wednesday.
The Cowboys have not been known to shy away from players with off-field concerns. They signed now-suspended defensive end Greg Hardy, who was not retained by the Panthers following a domestic violence incident last year. Dallas also selected Nebraska defensive end Randy Gregory in the second round of this year's draft, just over two months after Gregory tested positive for drug use at the NFL Scouting Combine.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones dealt with multiple player arrests in the 1990s, but he said the situation with Collins is unlike anything he's ever seen.
"I have not one iota of information, but if he’s exonerated, it’s one of the strangest things I’ve ever seen," Jones said, via the Dallas Morning News. "With that happening, with the timing (of how) it happened and the way it was so difficult because of the timing to really put some meat on the bones to clear him up.
"This situation has never come up. I don’t know if we’ll analyze this thing and say, 'Now we have to have a hardship deal for a situation like this.'"