Free Agency: Landon Collins

Free Agency: Landon Collins

Franchise tag edition

    With teams now able to sign players with a franchise tag option, there are a few high profile names that have been discussed in terms of their respective team using that option on them. For those of you that don’t quite understand what this means (like me before ten minutes ago), a franchise tag is a one year contract offer given to a player that a team wishes to retain the services of with the intent of signing them to a larger deal, or ensuring that they are compensated if another team were to sign that player. The price of the franchise tag is equal to the average of the top five contracts at that position, making it pricey, but worth the money for good players. Speaking of good players that might be franchise tagged, New York Giants safety Landon Collins finished the final season on his contract. Why does he deserve the franchise tag? Let’s discuss.

    Personally, I like Landon Collins. On the rare occasion that I watch a Giants game, I see him constantly moving sideline to sideline, breaking up passes, and getting in on tackles. He’s a fun player to watch; especially on the Giants where I only used to enjoy counting the number of breaths, Eli could take without closing his mouth. Collins is a home-grown talent, drafted 33rd overall in 2015, and has steadily improved each year he’s been in the league. He is already a three-time pro bowler in his short career, which speaks volumes to how much he is respected league-wide. He has mostly been healthy, aside from missing action due to tearing his labrum last season.

    Financially this makes sense for Landon Collins. There is a big market for safeties this offseason, which will drive up the price of his franchise tag. While it’ll surely hurt the Giants, it’ll still be better than signing Collins to the huge deal he probably deserves and then running out of cap space for Odell Beckham Jr. The one year deal will also allow Collins to prove he’s healthy and earn a top-tier contract next season.

    Should the Giants decide not to tag Collins, look for pretty much any other team to try and sign him? Every secondary could use a ball-hawking safety with good range that can also lay some strong hits against the running game. How about Green Bay acquiring his services after revamping their secondary in the draft last season, or the Raiders building a defense around his abilities? These are just some thoughts, although it is widely believed that the Giants will exercise their option to franchise tag him.

-By: Nick Selko