The biggest story surrounding the Dallas Cowboys remains the contract negotiation the team is in the middle of with star Running Back Ezekiel Elliott. Per a report from Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports, the team is close to reaching an agreement on a contract extension with yet another player not named Elliott.
Just a week or so ago the Cowboys surprised with a contract extension for Linebacker Jaylon Smith. Now, it seems the team is close to reaching an agreement with Right Tackle La’el Collins that will keep him with the team beyond 2019. This comes after Collins mentioned that he wanted to be a member of the Dallas Cowboys for life.
Collins has been the Cowboys starting right tackle for the team for the past two seasons after making the switch from left guard. He’s been good and it was expected that he would see a nice payday when he hit free agency in the 2020 offseason. NFL teams are always looking for and willing to pay tackles with experience and Collins looked to be on his way out the door.
Per Robinson’s report, the Cowboys and Collins are working on a deal that would be mutually beneficial for both parties.
The news comes as a bit of a surprised as the team looked to be planning for life without Collins after drafting Connor Williams in 2018 and Connor McGovern in 2019. It seemed that Williams would move out to right tackle and McGovern would slide in at left guard.
With Collins and the Dallas Cowboys close to an agreement, this give the offensive line a chance to have the same starting five for 2020 and potentially several years beyond, depending on the length of the contract. Having that kind of offensive line continuity is huge for a team whose identity has built around the offensive line and the run game.
La’el Collins hasn’t had the All-Pro career that Tyron Smith, Travis Frederick, and Zack Martin have had, but he’s been a solid player for them on the right side.
Collins has consistently improved his consistency and level of play at right tackle. The Dallas Cowboys finding a way to retain Collins is huge for the future of the team moving forward.
While all eyes are focused on the contract negotiation of their star running back, the Dallas Cowboys continue to make solid decisions for the future of the franchise at other positions.
Once the terms of an agreement are known, we’ll have a breakdown of what it means for the cap, but you can be sure, the Dallas Cowboys will have done the math to make sure they can work in their big offensive stars.
La’el Collins getting paid may come as a surprise, but it’s a great surprise for a team that has a shot of having a contender for the foreseeable future.
Updated at 10:00 am 9/3/2019.
La’el Collins’ contract is a five-year extension that gives him the highest amount of guarantees for a right tackle on the NFL. The new deal keeps the Cowboys’ right tackle with the team through the 2024 season.
