Cowboys sign OT La'el Collins

Newt

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There will come a day when this line will need to be
paid. I will be bummed when our line gets "Murrayed"
By the salary cap.
We have a few years before we have to worry about that too much. But really we have the LT spot paid for already, that is the expensive one, the others won't come cheap when the time comes but I bet the salesman and his son can work out the details to keep this group, or at least the majority of it, together for a long time.
 

townsend

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Witten, Romo, and Carr's contracts will be over by the time the linesmen contracts are up. Apart from Bryant (and assuming we continue this streak of classic Steelers style GMing) we should have plenty if cap space available. Signing these guys as the top paid guys on our team would be brilliant. Some stud rookie QB will have an easy time.
 

Cowboysrock55

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There will come a day when this line will need to be
paid. I will be bummed when our line gets "Murrayed"
By the salary cap.
Eh that's still 4 years away. Frederick will get paid in 3. And then Martin and Collins will get paid in 4. Obviously some guys will get raises in there but nothing crazy (RFA money and 5th year options). Thankfully Smith is already locked in long term. As long as we can keep 3 of these guys together for the next 8 years we will dominate for a long time upfront.
 

VA Cowboy

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Not for nothin but after watching the press conference about his signing I have a new found respect for Jerry Jones. I used to hate on him more then any player or coach for the cowboys but after watching him at that press conference I see him in a different light. Not just some idiot rambling on about himself and the cowboys and not making any sense while doing it, but someone who actually cares about his players, cares about the person not just a football player.

This kid is going to be something special, you can see it in his eyes and the way he talks, he is gonna prove it with his play and the only person to really thank is Jerry Jones. Never thought I would hear those words come out of my mouth but it is the truth. I see JJ in a different light after this move.
Jerry is OK when he actually cares about winning.
 

mcnuttz

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This Steve guy was a DCC'er are one point.
How do you know this?
 

Cotton

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How do you know this?
When he posted here he sent me a friend request on FB, and then we both followed each other on Twitter.
 

mcnuttz

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When he posted here he sent me a friend request on FB, and then we both followed each other on Twitter.
Oh.

That guy...yes, I remember him.
 

Clay_Allison

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There will come a day when this line will need to be
paid. I will be bummed when our line gets "Murrayed"
By the salary cap.
We'll just have to show the same commitment in the draft then as in recent years.
 

Cotton

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That sounds so romantic. Are you guys still together?
Nah, we had a nasty split after an argument when DCC III went down. We are still friends, though.
 

Angrymesscan

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The thing that has me most pumped is this guy seems to be the same type as Tyron, Fred and Martin, they want to be the best, I'm having wet dreams of them willing to take Tyron type deals just to stay together and make history as the GOAT...
 

GForce78NJ

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The thing that has me most pumped is this guy seems to be the same type as Tyron, Fred and Martin, they want to be the best, I'm having wet dreams of them willing to take Tyron type deals just to stay together and make history as the GOAT...
I heard someone yesterday on the interwebz call this line the "Legion of Room"

I'm running with this one for sure.
 

Cowboysrock55

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The thing that has me most pumped is this guy seems to be the same type as Tyron, Fred and Martin, they want to be the best, I'm having wet dreams of them willing to take Tyron type deals just to stay together and make history as the GOAT...
If Collins is everything we dream him to be I'd offer him a long term deal after 2 years. He may be willing to take something significantly cheaper knowing that he wouldn't be able to cash in big time for another 2 years. Sort of a Scandrick type deal.
 

Cotton

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Have you calmed down some by now? :happydance
Not really. It still hurts a little. I mean, we were pretty close, and the argument was just so damn petty.
 

Cotton

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I'm with nodak, Legion of Room is a lame ripoff. Hate it.
Well, you better come up with something witty pretty quick, as that name has taken off.
 

Cotton

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Moore: The full story of the dinner that brought La'el Collins to Cowboys

David Moore

IRVING — Hours after a powerful, emotional dinner at the owner’s home, Jerry Jones couldn’t stop tears from streaming down his face.

He knows La’el Collins poured his heart and soul into the work necessary to become a first round pick in the NFL. To have that dream ripped away by a tragic double-murder, for which Baton Rouge police say the LSU offensive lineman is not a suspect, is something Jones can’t shake.

So at Thursday afternoon’s hastily called news conference to announce Collins had chosen the Cowboys over every other team in the league to sign a free-agent contract, Jones began to choke up when he relayed what the lineman’s mother, Loyetta, told those sitting around his table less than 20 hours earlier.

“She said, ‘My boy’s been hit on the end of the nose hard,’” Jones said, pausing to regain his composure. “I wouldn’t want to be in his way, and I’d advise nobody else to get in his way.”

Collins’ unprecedented journey began 13 days earlier when Brittney Mills, his pregnant ex-girlfriend, was shot and killed. Her unborn child was delivered but later died. Collins left last week’s draft in Chicago to return to Baton Rouge to talk to police.

Police have declared he’s not a suspect, and DNA tests have determined he’s not the father. Collins cellphone blew up Thursday with calls from players, coaches and general managers around the league hoping to convince him to join their teams as he sat in Jones’ office at Valley Ranch and signed a three-year, $1.65 million fully guaranteed contract. The deal paid him roughly $8 million less than if would have been taken in the first round.

Collins speaks of how he shares the same vision as Jones, coach Jason Garrett and the others he broke bread with at the owner’s home Wednesday evening. He wants to be “part of something great, part of something special” and said he believes he can be an integral member of the best offensive line in NFL history.

Garrett kept coming back to the word inspirational in discussing what Collins has been through these last two weeks and his decision to join a franchise that already boasts three Pro Bowl offensive linemen.

“My hair stands on ends, and you get chill bumps when you think about someone’s approach to this situation, someone who is so young and mature beyond his years, tough beyond his years,” Garrett said of the 21-year-old rookie. “There’s a big sign back there outside our locker room that says, ‘The only thing that matters is what we do now.’

“He and his family have truly applied it to a really, really challenging situation. These guys who aspire to be NFL football players, that’s all they think about, since they’re this high. And to have the draft come up, to put yourself in position to be a first round pick in the National Football League, then have this thing come up that really prevents you from living that dream and having that opportunity. ...

“To handle it with such strength and faith and courage and poise, it’s pretty remarkable.”

The meeting

Collins’ phone rang at 11 p.m. earlier this week.

Jones was on the other end.

“We had a long conversation and man, that was the first time I really felt like somebody was seeing me for who I am,” Collins said. “Somebody understood the guy that went back to school my senior year because I wanted to be something special.”

Buffalo coach Rex Ryan had flown to Baton Rouge to eat with Collins. A couple of his former teammates at LSU returned to Louisiana to lobby to get him to join them with the Miami Dolphins. Collins’ agent said his client didn’t intend to take any visits.

But Jones’ conversation changed all that. He arrived in Dallas on Wednesday with his mother, who raised her son and worked long shifts as a security guard at the Belle of Baton Rouge Casino and Hotel while the boy’s father, Theotis, spent more than a decade in prison for his involvement in the death of a man in a bar fight.

Collins and his mother joined Jones, his son Stephen, and Garrett at dinner. Quarterback Tony Romo and the team’s three Pro Bowl linemen — Tyron Smith, Zack Martin and Travis Frederick — were also in attendance along with tight end Jason Witten and offensive line coach Frank Pollack.

Collins followed and looked up to Smith when he was in high school. He has watched Romo play and admired no matter how much the Cowboys quarterback was criticized, he never folded or blinked.

The dinner had a profound effect on his decision.

“Those are guys who have been faced with challenges throughout life,” Collins said. “I fit right in with those guys. So, when I take the field with those guys and this team, I fit right in.

“This is going to be a powerful thing, man. This I going to be powerful and this is going to be something that people will not only talk about for the next four years, but for the next 40 years. It’s going to be a lifetime thing.

“I guarantee you this: I’m going to give this organization everything I have and more. This is going to be the best offensive line in NFL history.

“Mark my words.”

The double-murder

Baton Rouge homicide detectives questioned Collins on Monday as part of the investigation into the slaying of his pregnant ex-girlfriend. Police spokesman Cpl. Don Coppola said DNA tests showed Collins was not the father of the baby.

Mills, 29, died of multiple gunshot wounds to her torso area around 10:30 p.m. on April 24. She was eight months pregnant. Doctors delivered the baby, who survived a few days but died over the weekend. The case is now considered a double murder.

Collins was among several of the victims’ associates interviewed by police.

“Investigators are looking at any type of friendships, relationships, any acquaintances — anyone that can shed some type of light on this investigation as far as who would have wanted to kill Ms. Mills,” Coppola said.

According to a preliminary investigation, police believe Mills’ attacker first knocked on the door, and she opened it. The suspect asked to borrow her car, and she said no. The suspect then shot Mills with a handgun, Coppola said.

Coppola said police aren’t sure whether Mills knew her assailant.

“It’s an ongoing investigation,” Collins said at Thursday’s new conference. “I’ve collaborated fully with the police. That’s all I really need to say about it.’’

Collins knows some jumped to conclusions about his involvement. He calls this a burden God gave him to carry to share with others. He feels his faith was put to the test and he responded.

“I never once was bitter,” Collins said. “I could easily have been bitter. I could have easily been mad at the world, taken it out on anybody.”

Collins is confident in the person he is and what he believes. He wants to be an example to his younger brother and sister. He wants to show them and others when you face trials or tribulations, “how you stand in the moments of darkness is what you are all about, it’s what speaks about you. It’s everything.”

When the first round of last week’s draft passed and Collins wasn’t selected, he told his family this:

“Believe me, we will have greater moments,” he said. “Believe me, there are going to be greater times.”

Thursday was one of those for La’el Collins.

“What’s greater than being a Dallas Cowboy?” Collins asked. What’s greater? I don’t know.

“I don’t know anything better.”
 
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