Cowboys OL La'el Collins, who slipped out of the draft, gets his huge payday

When offensive lineman La’el Collins fell out of the 2015 draft, as a police investigation swirled around him, he lost out on millions of dollars.

The Dallas Cowboys signed Collins as an undrafted free agent, and after two seasons they’ve given Collins the payday he should have had after the draft. Mike Garafolo of NFL Network said Collins got a two-year contract extension worth $15.4 million, a very nice deal for a player with only two seasons of experience. You’d have to think the Cowboys wanted to pay Collins back for picking them two years ago after he went undrafted. Many teams were after Collins, but he chose Dallas. It looks like a smart call now.

Collins’ story was one of the strangest in recent NFL draft history. He was wanted for questioning by the Baton Rouge Police Department in the shooting death of his former girlfriend Brittney Mills, but Collins was never named a suspect. He passed a polygraph test and a paternity test found that the child Mills was carrying was not Collins’ child. When news broke that police wanted to talk to Collins, he left the draft in Chicago to go back to Louisiana. He was projected as a first-round pick but fell completely out of the draft. Despite never being charged with any wrongdoing, he lost out on the experience of a lifetime at the draft.

Collins didn’t dwell on it, and has become a key member of a fantastic Cowboys line. Dallas is planning to move Collins from guard to right tackle this season, and his importance on the Cowboys continues to grow. And after a couple years making relative peanuts to what he should have made after the draft, Collins’ paycheck matches his ability.

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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdown.corner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
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