Patriots Trade Rumors: New England ‘Frontrunner’ For La’el Collins?

Are the Patriots nearing a trade for an offensive lineman?

New England has emerged as a leading candidate to acquire Dallas Cowboys tackle La’el Collins, Patrick Walker of CBS Sports reported Wednesday morning. Rumors of a potential Patriots-Collins trade first cropped up Tuesday afternoon, with Andrew Callahan of the Boston Herald reporting that, thus far, Dallas’ asking price has been too high for New England.

From Walker’s column:

Collins is currently the topic of possible trade talk within the confines of Cowboys headquarters in Frisco, Texas, but there’s also a possibility he gets outright released — despite the team’s need for depth on the offensive line. There are several teams interested in potentially trading for Collins, but nothing is imminent as of yet, although sources tell CBS Sports a frontrunner may have emerged in Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots.

Internally, sources say, the Patriots have kicked around several ideas for compensation that include a possible swap of picks in the 2022 NFL Draft or simply giving the Cowboys a pick on Day 2, but the discussions are preliminary and haven’t yet been presented or formalized. Collins’ flexibility is also intriguing to the Patriots, considering he was converted from guard to tackle by the Cowboys and, as such, has an ability to kick inside if/when needed — as evidenced in 2021 following the emergence of Terence Steele at tackle.

As Walker mentioned, Collins’ versatility could be intriguing to the Patriots, who are down two guards following the departure of Ted Karras and trading of Shaq Mason. Additionally, starting right tackle Trent Brown is set to become a free agent Wednesday and reportedly is looking for a significant deal.

Collins played left guard his rookie season and since has seen time at both tackles spots. He seemingly could fill any of New England’s three holes on the offensive line, and also could play left tackle if Isaiah Wynn eventually is traded or kicked inside.

Collins has three years and $30 million remaining on his current contract, with salary cap hits of $15.25 million in both 2022 and 2023 and $13.45 million in 2024. The LSU product was Pro Football Focus‘ 15th-ranked tackle in 2021 — a year after finishing fifth.

He’ll turn 29 years old in July.