Burrow’s crackers help Bengals land Collins
Crackers, cupcakes and Joe Burrow's presence won La'el Collins over on his visit to Cincinnati.
When rumors of the Dallas Cowboys wanting to trade Collins started to swirl a few days before the legal free agency tampering period began last week, the Bengals were one of the first teams attached to Collins' name as a potential landing spot.
Cincinnati had a need at right tackle and Collins is one of the top players at that position. He also has familiarity with offensive line coach Frank Pollack, who was his position coach in Dallas from 2015-17. And, like quarterback Burrow and receiver Ja'marr Chase, he's an LSU Tiger. The fit seemed perfect from the get-go. As days passed and the Bengals filled several other positional needs along the offensive line, the Collins situation awaited.
“There (were) rumblings he could become available,” Bengals coach Zac Taylor said of the process to acquire Collins. “So of course, we talked about it. If he becomes available, would we want to add him? The answer to that is yes. It worked out in our favor.”
The Cowboys released Collins with a post-june 1 cut on March 17 and Collins flew to Cincinnati that night. While Collins was getting into town, Burrow was having dinner with newly signed guard Alex Cappa and center Ted Karras at Jeff Ruby's. Taylor was also reportedly there as well.
As Burrow got to know his new teammates, he was about to meet one more the next day. After a day of meetings at the team's facility in downtown Cincinnati, Burrow invited Collins over to his house on Friday night with a spread that included cupcakes and crackers.
Collins said being there with Burrow and his new teammates sealed the deal for him.
“I was able to go spend time with those guys — Joe and the rest of the guys,” Collins said. “For me, that really put it over the top. That really stamped it. That really showed me this is where I wanted to be. These are the guys I want to be around. That moment was probably the biggest moment.”
He felt the love as 10 different Bengals reached out to him to get him to sign with Cincinnati, he said. Collins spent the weekend in town, with several fans who spotted him asking if he was going to sign with the Bengals. He left with a three-year deal.
The NFL suspended Collins, who missed five games in 2021 for violating the NFL'S substance-abuse policy. In 2020, he did not play due to a hip injury that required surgery. He started 10 games for the Cowboys in 2021.