Cowboys Sign Star OL La'el Collins to Lucrative 5-Year Extension
By Mark Powell
While Cowboys fans await any and all news on a potential Ezekiel Elliott contract extension, Jerry Jones and Co. have agreed to a deal with one of their supportive pieces, stud offensive lineman La'el Collins.
Collins and the Cowboys have a mutual agreement on a five-year extension that will make the 26-year-old one of the highest-paid players at his position in the NFL.
Cowboy and OT La’el Collins reached agreement on a five-year contract extension that ties him to Dallas for the next six seasons, per source. It will make Collins one of the NFL’s five-highest paid RTs.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 3, 2019
While some might pause at Dallas' strategy of signing players not named Elliott, Dak Prescott and Amari Cooper, this is actually a smart move by the Cowboys. By locking up their stars on the periphery now, they'll know exactly how much money they have to work with when the time comes in terms of managing the salary cap and bringing appropriate funds to the negotiating table.
Collins, a 6-5 behemoth from Baton Rouge who played college ball in his hometown at LSU, has acclimated the NFL extraordinarily well so far in his early career.
The #Cowboys are close to completing a long-term contract extension with offensive tackle La’el Collins. It could be finalized as early as today. I expect it to be similar to the Jaylon Smith deal, with Collins and Dallas reaching a contract beneficial for both the player & team.
— Charles Robinson (@CharlesRobinson) September 3, 2019
Having Collins under contract for the next five years also extends the window of Dallas' offensive line for the foreseeable future, allowing them to potentially replace the likes of Elliott and still achieve relative success.