Jamie Collins reportedly is on the trade block. One former Patriots teammate wants to see him land back in New England.
Ex-Patriots linebacker Brandon Spikes on Wednesday expressed his desire for another Collins reunion on social media, tweeting: “Back to the @Patriots … please oh please.”
Spikes and Collins were teammates and position mates during Collins’ rookie season in 2013.
It’s unclear whether the Patriots would be interested in reacquiring Collins for what would be his third tour of duty in New England. The 31-year-old was great for them in 2019 — he was a Defensive Player of the Year candidate before cooling off down the stretch — but has been less effective since signing a three-year, $30 million contract with the Detroit Lions in 2020.
Collins has struggled in coverage this season, and new Lions head coach Dan Campbell openly questioned his effort after Detroit’s Week 2 loss to the Green Bay Packers.
“Jamie, look, Jamie had some mistakes,” Campbell told reporters, via NFL.com. “It wasn’t, certainly, his best performance and, yeah, I think (rookie Derrick) Barnes deserves a shot.”
Two days after that loss, multiple outlets reported the Lions are looking to trade Collins.
Matt Patricia, who signed Collins to that big-money deal, returned to the Patriots as an advisor this past offseason, and Collins’ best seasons all have come in New England. So, the connection is there.
But the Patriots also have solid depth at linebacker after adding Kyle Van Noy and Matt Judon in free agency and getting Dont’a Hightower back from his COVID opt-out, and trading for Collins would soak up most of their remaining cap space (just shy of $3.2 million) unless Detroit eats some of his salary. Collins also is set to earn $9.8 million in base salary and a $200,000 workout bonus in 2022.
Van Noy missed last week’s win over the New York Jets with a throat injury but was a full participant in Wednesday’s practice.
The 1-1 Patriots are preparing to host the 1-1 New Orleans Saints on Sunday at Gillette Stadium.
