Collins has a meeting scheduled with the Bills

[Buffalogic]

Good. Sign him immediately. This would be a very good get.

[Mr. Pink]

I was honestly rooting for someone to pick him in the 7th so he could hold to his plan of not signing and re-entering the draft next year. His entire situation blows and if he really is innocent, he should have been allowed the opportunity of re-entering the draft next year and getting a shot at being paid like the first rounder he would have been if his name wasn't smeared.

Of course if he was behind it, then F him and he should never see the outside of a jail cell for the rest of his life.

[Oaf]

I'm sure other teams have worse (more open) situations than we do. Glenn, Cyrus, Henderson is not a bad haul, is it?

[ParanoidAndroid]

He'd be the favorite to take a guard spot opposite Incognito. Urbik (because he can back-up at center) and Miller are the back-ups and Williams is the odd man out.

[psubills62]

Obviously there's a cap to the signing bonus, but what kind of incentives can be offered?

As others have said, if he wants to come in and compete to be a starter, hard to find a better situation. And it sounds like he met with Rex. If Ryan is truly a player's coach, would be nice if he could convince Collins to sign with Buffalo then.

[Topas]

There are people on this board that have declared Winston guilty of rape & Darby guilty of the cover up of that rape.

Well, in general I agree. Wait what the justice systems says, although your US systems sucks. But anyway. But waiting holds definitely true for Collins. But the same is not true for Winston. Because there the justice system is already finished, because IIRC the woman did not speak with the police. And that stinks that she was paid off. And in that instance, sorry, I try to steer clear of these guys. And I am very lukewarm with our draft, not because of talent but I think each team can have a few douchebags as long as the locker room is working (i.e. Fred and Kyle kicking their assess if they screw up). But if you get too many douchebags then you will run into problems. And currently it looks like we are specifically targeting douchebags.

And I don't count Collins in that group. At least not yet. He just handled the situation very poorly.

[Buddo]

Obviously there's a cap to the signing bonus, but what kind of incentives can be offered?

As others have said, if he wants to come in and compete to be a starter, hard to find a better situation. And it sounds like he met with Rex. If Ryan is truly a player's coach, would be nice if he could convince Collins to sign with Buffalo then.

There aren't really any incentives available. The whole pool for signing UDFAs has just something like $88,000 available for bonuses.

The only thing that could be done, would be to guarantee his contract in full, which amounts to just over $1.5 million for the 3 years. The other thing, is that after two years, he will be able to sign another deal with the team.

[Night Train]

The key is to make sure he didn't pull a Rae Carruth and order a hit.

After all the bad publicity the NFL received last year, they will be monitoring this closely.

I want the team to get better but don't put the blinders on yet. Tread lightly while more info comes out.

[swiper]

The key is to make sure he didn't pull a Rae Carruth and order a hit.

You hit the nail on the head.

[YardRat]

http://www.steelersdepot.com/2015/05...-lael-collins/

An 'unsanctioned meeting'? Never heard that one before.

[chernobylwraiths]

why do I keep thinking of Rae Carruth?

[casdhf]

This guy starts from day one. But where?

[k-oneputt]

This guy starts from day one. But where?

Outside of LT and C he would be an upgrade at any of the remaining 3 spots.

[SpikedLemonade]

http://www.steelersdepot.com/2015/05...-lael-collins/

An 'unsanctioned meeting'? Never heard that one before.

I don't understand this.

Who would need to sanction the meeting?

[trapezeus]

i think if the details are pointing to him being exonerated, being in contact with him during this difficult time should mean something to him. and you don't have to sign him, but simply having the coach show up and say, "we see your value, we believe you are going to be ok from this, and we'll take a chance. we hope you take a chance by signing with us" is all the bills have to do right now.

until someone else is charged, it's a pretty open case without a lot of details. i don't know if signing him today makes sense. but playing the game to make him feel wanted is important at this stage.

[Zoneblitser]

I heard Howard David a nfl anylist on the nfl radio network say he thinks there was a unofficial nfl ban in teams from drafting this kid. Too much bad publicity last year and with Shane Rae and Gregory getting into trouble David thinks the league told teams to stay away. That is why this might be considered a unsanctioned meeting.

[SpikedLemonade]

I agree Rex is doing the right thing here but for a guaranteed 3 year $1.5M contract I would roll the dice and sign him right now.

Show the kid you have faith in him.

If he is guilty, you cut him and have a small cap hit.

Well worth the risk.

[Joe Fo Sho]

I don't understand this.

Who would need to sanction the meeting?

I don't get it either. It's the NFL, why would it be a problem meeting with an UDFA?

[Zoneblitser]

I don't get it either. It's the NFL, why would it be a problem meeting with an UDFA?

Read two post up from yours. I beleave the NFL blackballed this kid from the draft and told teams to stay away from him.

[MillsapsBillsFan]

I saw online that unsanctioned meeting means that it wasnt cleared through his agent. Not sure why it would need to be cleared through his agent to speak to him, or if there will be any penalties but thats what it is.

Let me see if I can find the tweet

Edit: Found it

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/12...et-baton-rouge

https://twitter.com/mikerodak/status/595412754057551873