What were the Patriots thinking in trading Jamie Collins?
It might seem shocking that the Super Bowl favorites dealt one of their best defensive players to bottom-barrel Cleveland before the deadline. But, then again, these are the Patriots. They always have good reasons to make shrewd moves.
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For the Browns, parting with a conditional third-round pick makes sense, because they'll have the means to re-sign the run-stuffing and pass-rushing outside linebacker to a lucrative long-term deal either before or when he becomes a free agent in 2017. Of they can franchise tag him.
According to OverTheCap.com, the Browns are sitting on an NFL-high $48 million under the salary cap. It's a splashy move in advance to sell Collins as the much-needed new cornerstone of Cleveland's defense.
The Patriots, however, are only $9.3 million under the cap. They already made one bold move with an edge player to save some money in the offseason when they traded away defensive end Chandler Jones to Arizona. Collins, about to price himself out as a once-versatile value for New England, will get much more than he's worth outside Bill Belichick's system.
Collins is having a down season. He remains a force against the run as a steady 4-3 linebacker, but he's been slowed a bit by a hip injury. He does have two interceptions, but he hasn't been as effective against the pass overall, with only one sack in the seven games for which he's been active.
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He also has been trying to fly around too much, which at times has left him out of position. Belichick and Matt Patricia's defense is about discipline. Free-lancing and dancing won't work, unless its within the system. Collins had struggled enough in that area to make the Patriots not want to bring him back, especially at a monstrous raise from the sub-$1 million he's making in base salary for 2016.
So why make the move now, when they could have gotten a compensatory pick had Collins just walked in 2017?
Simple — it also serves as a good faith gesture to their real linebacker free-agent priority, Dont'a Hightower. They can now move forward with confidence in those contract negotiations with neither camp worrying about how Collins' deal might affect it.
Yes, Collins is the one coming off a Pro Bowl. Hightower has never been to one, but he's headed there in what has been a terrific season so far. He plays a more stabilizing, harder-to-replace position for the Patriots on the inside. He's been arguably their best defensive player overall this season, with some strong competition from cornerback Malcolm Butler and safety Devin McCourty.
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Hightower is unrestricted in 2017. Butler deserves a long-term deal as a pending restricted free agent as he emerges as a shutdown cover man outside. They're both only 26, a little younger than Collins. The Patriots' recent draft history shows they can find another Collins type a lot easier than somebody to provide what Hightower or Butler are giving them. Like the Patriots did for McCourty in '15, those guys need to be locked up long-term.
Collins wasn't playing to the Patriots' lofty expectations, making their decision easier to make him the odd man out.
It looks like Cleveland's gain on paper, but New England will benefit, too. It always does.
