turtle28 Posted April 16, 2021 Share Posted April 16, 2021 Rivera Issues Bold Statement About Landon Collins WFT Position Change https://www.si.com/nfl/washingtonfootball/news/coach-rivera-issues-bold-statement-about-landon-collins-washington-football-team-position-change Rivera said Landon Collins was speaking for himself & not the organization when he said he wouldn’t switch to linebacker. Not a definite that Collins will be playing linebacker but clearly Rivera was sending a message that players don’t determine what position they’ll be playing, the coaches do. “Collins therefore was just speaking for himself and his preferred plan. And, by the way, the plan can be a flexible one. What happens if in this NFL Draft the WFT uses a premium pick on a linebacker? Then maybe Collins is fine. But what if that same pick is used on a safety? Then maybe ... everyone involved needs to be open-minded. Washington has Kam Curl, Jeremy Reaves, Deshazor Everett (coming off season-ending injury), Troy Apke and Collins (also coming off an injury) as its top five safeties at the moment. Collins' base salary is now largely guaranteed. So he's going nowhere, in terms of being on the roster. But in terms of going somewhere else besides just safety? Collins has registered his vote. And Ron Rivera is in position to veto that vote.“ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turtle28 Posted April 16, 2021 Author Share Posted April 16, 2021 Could Landon Collins Solve WFT Issue At LB? https://www.si.com/nfl/washingtonfootball/news/could-landon-collins-solve-washington-football-team-issue-at-lb ”Is Collins willing to move down to linebacker? Bruce Arians' defense coined the "money backer" role over the past decade when selecting Deone Bucannon back in 2014. The NFL is turning more the pass, meaning speed up the middle is essential for defenses at the second-level. When selected by the New York Giants in 2016, Collins was coming off his more well-rounded season with the Crimson Tide. One year later, multiple defensive sets had the former Alabama star playing near the line of scrimmage. Collins has overall value as a safety, but his skillset is more suitable to a linebacker playing downhill. Against the run, Pro Football Focus in past years, has ranked him one of the best defenders in the game — specifically in the box and against the run. In coverage, he lands near the bottom ten of his position. Washington [will] also have to replace free-agent Kevin Pierre-Louis' coverage skills. The 29-year-old was the best of the bunch when defending backs and tight ends in zone coverage. When playing in the slot, Collins has thrived in zone coverage. Watching the curl and the flats, it allows the safety to worry more of what's in front rather than what's running behind him. In today's NFL, "WILL" backers need to have the hitting style of a linebacker but the speed of the safety [which describes Collins perfectly].” Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MKnight82 Posted April 16, 2021 Share Posted April 16, 2021 Cut him. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TOUCAN Posted April 16, 2021 Share Posted April 16, 2021 39 minutes ago, MKnight82 said: Cut him. Yeahhhh, I'm kinda coming around to this. I like him as a player and he needs to understand he'd probably thrive in that. This also doesn't come off as a very team first kinda mentality. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turtle28 Posted April 16, 2021 Author Share Posted April 16, 2021 Cutting Collins saves us basically no money. It’s pointless. The only way they should cut him is if he’s not one of our best 53 players on our roster and I can’t imagine that. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghostnote Posted April 21, 2021 Share Posted April 21, 2021 On 4/16/2021 at 5:26 PM, turtle28 said: Cutting Collins saves us basically no money. It’s pointless. The only way they should cut him is if he’s not one of our best 53 players on our roster and I can’t imagine that. The notion to cut him is that he is putting himself before the team. Because he makes a crap load of money, he probabaly believes that he doesnt have to conform. This is what I have liked about Riviera is, he doesn't play that game. Whether he saves us money or not, cutting him sets the example and shows leadership. It sets a cultueral tone. That I like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeT14 Posted April 21, 2021 Share Posted April 21, 2021 On 4/16/2021 at 5:26 PM, turtle28 said: Cutting Collins saves us basically no money. It’s pointless. The only way they should cut him is if he’s not one of our best 53 players on our roster and I can’t imagine that. A Post June 1 greatly frees up 2022 though - looks like by over $6 million. Small effect in 2023 too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeT14 Posted April 21, 2021 Share Posted April 21, 2021 Let's see if he pushes back on any changes. If he does, yeah cut him. If not, we can see how it goes to pay a crap ton of money to play someone at another position because they were a bust signing to begin with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
offbyone Posted April 21, 2021 Share Posted April 21, 2021 All the outrage over Collins wanting to play the position he has played all his life and that he signed a contract to play is a bit extreme. Right now Collins has to focus on coming back from a very difficult injury. I just don't think you guys are thinking about the long game. IMO we should draft or sign a true linebacker, one who might be good and more importantly, be here for more than a season. Why are we going through all the effort to move him when we will let him go anyway because his contract is too big? He isn't going to restructure because he prefers to play safety. I am guessing Collins won't be full speed by preseason and will therefore start the season as a very expensive backup who will play a lot in nickel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turtle28 Posted April 21, 2021 Author Share Posted April 21, 2021 6 hours ago, MikeT14 said: A Post June 1 greatly frees up 2022 though - looks like by over $6 million. Small effect in 2023 too. Some dude on Twitter who really seemed to know what he was talking about made a great case that those #s were wrong from Over the cap, he basically said he didn’t know where they got the #S from bc they’re not true. Now whether that guy is right or not and over the cap is right or not, I have no idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turtle28 Posted April 21, 2021 Author Share Posted April 21, 2021 (edited) 4 hours ago, offbyone said: All the outrage over Collins wanting to play the position he has played all his life and that he signed a contract to play is a bit extreme. Right now Collins has to focus on coming back from a very difficult injury. I just don't think you guys are thinking about the long game. IMO we should draft or sign a true linebacker, one who might be good and more importantly, be here for more than a season. Why are we going through all the effort to move him when we will let him go anyway because his contract is too big? He isn't going to restructure because he prefers to play safety. I am guessing Collins won't be full speed by preseason and will therefore start the season as a very expensive backup who will play a lot in nickel. The reason is pretty clear, the reason to move Collins is because we want to keep Curl at SS and because Collins struggles covering in space and plays better in the box as a S which is what a WLB does too. So yeah, your last sentence is essentially what I am envisioning his role being. If he’s going to be a 3rd safety/play a lot in the nickel doesn’t that mean that in that role he’ll be playing similar to a dime linebacker? Dime LB/WLB are essentially the same thing. Collins is great in the box vs the run and as a blitzer, it’s his best quality and always has been. We’re essentially saying the same thing, you just don’t think he’ll start. I guess that’s up for debate, I think he will if he’s healthy. I can definitely go along with your theory that he won’t necessarily start but if he’s the 3rd safety/dime LB who plays when we’re in nickel he’s going to be on the field about 2/3 of the game anyway so he’ll essentially be a starter he just may not be on the field when we’re in our base defense - I can’t imagine that being the case if he’s healthy - but anything is possible. Edited April 21, 2021 by turtle28 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeT14 Posted April 21, 2021 Share Posted April 21, 2021 13 minutes ago, turtle28 said: Some dude on Twitter who really seemed to know what he was talking about made a great case that those #s were wrong from Over the cap, he basically said he didn’t know where they got the #S from bc they’re not true. Now whether that guy is right or not and over the cap is right or not, I have no idea. And I'm relying on OTC to be correct, so I see your point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turtle28 Posted April 21, 2021 Author Share Posted April 21, 2021 6 hours ago, Ghostnote said: The notion to cut him is that he is putting himself before the team. Because he makes a crap load of money, he probabaly believes that he doesnt have to conform. This is what I have liked about Riviera is, he doesn't play that game. Whether he saves us money or not, cutting him sets the example and shows leadership. It sets a cultueral tone. That I like. True, I see that angle. I guess that’s to be determined over the coming months with what happens with Collins and what coaches want to do with him. I definitely agree that if he won’t do what the coaches want him to do - no matter what that is - that they’ll cut him, they’ve shown they’ll do that to anyone no matter what. I’m also not really sure why Collins is so against the move to LB if that’s what they end up doing with him because it’s become clear over his college & pro careers that he’s best as a box safety so the move to WLB seems really logical and would help Collins to be able to make more plays around the line of scrimmage as well. I guess he doesn’t want to because of the reasons offbyone said, he’s always been a safety and wants to remain there but for him and his playing style I think playing WLB & then as a dime LB - which is like 2/3 for our D - is the best more for him and the defense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turtle28 Posted April 21, 2021 Author Share Posted April 21, 2021 3 minutes ago, MikeT14 said: And I'm relying on OTC to be correct, so I see your point. Yeah, at first I argued back with the guy that these are the numbers but the guy was a capologist who really knew what he was talking about and he convinced me, which isn’t always easy to do because I can be stubborn when I read something and believe it to be true as we all know... 😂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woz Posted April 25, 2021 Share Posted April 25, 2021 On 4/16/2021 at 4:33 PM, MKnight82 said: Cut him. Can't this year since his salary is now fully guaranteed and would turn into 26.3M in dead cap. Next year, cutting would save the team $6.6M. So, perhaps Landon would be wise not to piss off Rivera as Ron has show himself to have little loyalty to players who make waves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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