Cowboys Make Shocking Move: Bring Back Former $50 Million Starter Amidst Devastating Injury Crisis

The Dallas Cowboys are once again giving La’el Collins a chance to bring his football career back to life.

The Cowboys signed Collins, a former starter, who played for the franchise from 2015 to 2021, after a rash of injuries on the offensive line and despite Collins not being on an active roster the last 2 seasons.

The Cowboys are set to sign offensive tackle La’el Collins,” CBS Sports NFL Reporter Matt Zenitz wrote on his official X account on August 1. “Collins, who was a starter for Dallas from 2015-21, was with the Bills most recently during the 2024 offseason. Has dropped about 25 pounds and had a strong workout for Dallas today. Now set for a reunion with the team.”

Collins, 6-foot-4 and 315 pounds, will be brought in to help address a rash of injuries on the offensive line for the Cowboys that took down NFL All-Pro offensive guard Tyler Smith on July 31 with knee issues.

“Smith is the third Dallas offensive lineman to be injured in less than a week,” Dan Greenspan of The Associated Press wrote on July 31. “Starting left tackle Tyler Guyton was hurt Monday, one day after reserve guard Rob Jones broke a bone in his neck. Coach Brian Schottenheimer described Guyton’s right knee fracture, which will keep him out four to six weeks, as the best-case scenario given the circumstances.”

Collins hasn’t played in an NFL regular-season game since 2022, when he started 15 games for the Cincinnati Bengals.

Cowboys Gave Collins First Shot at NFL Career

Headed into the 2015 NFL draft, Collins was projected as a surefire first-round pick out of LSU before news broke he was questioned in the murder of his ex-girlfriend, 29-year-old Brittany Mills,  who was 8 months pregnant when she was shot to death in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on April 24, 2015 — just 6 days before the draft.

While Collins eventually was ruled out as a suspect and a paternity test showed he was not the father of the child, he went undrafted and eventually signed with the Cowboys.

One decade later, Mills’ murder remains a cold case.

Collins started 11 games as a rookie and then started 32 consecutive games in 2017 and 2018 before the Cowboys signed him to a 5-year, $50 million contract extension before the 2019 season.

After sitting out the entire 2020 season due to injuries, Collins was suspended for 5 games in 2021 after violating the league’s substance abuse policy by missing drug tests and allegedly attempting to bribe the worker collecting the urine samples.

Devastating Knee Injury With Cincy in 2022

Collins asked for and was granted his released by the Cowboys following the 2021 season and signed a 3-year, $21 million contract with the Bengals, where he started 15 games before a devastating knee injury against the New England Patriots in Week 16 ended his season with a torn ACL and MCL.

Collins, who has $49.9 million in career earnings, was released by the Bengals in September 2023 and sat out all of last season recovering from his knee injury. He signed a 1-year, $1.75 million contract with the Buffalo Bills in April 2024 but was released as part of the team’s final training camp roster cuts in August 2024.

In Collins’ last full season in 2022, he allowed 34 pressures, 5 sacks and was called for 8 penalties.