With less than 24 hours remaining to designate the franchise tag, it seems unlikely that the New York Giants will tag Landon Collins.
Despite leading the New York Giants in tackles in each of his four years in the league and being named to the Pro Bowl in three consecutive seasons, it seems like the team is preparing to part ways with Landon Collins, per reports.
The 25-year-old Collins, who was named one of the team captains last season, is a free agent and many felt the Giants would designate their franchise tag to him which would pay him around $12 million.
But with Tuesday’s 4 p.m. ET deadline to franchise a player, it was reported that the Giants do not plan to franchise Collins due to the high price tag.
The #Giants are viewed as unlikely to franchise tag safety Landon Collins, sources tell @KimJonesSports and me. They love the player but view the tag number as too high. If this holds, he’s expected to be free.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 4, 2019
Collins has been the Giants’ best defensive player for years and despite missing the last four games of last season due to a torn labrum, still led the team in tackles with 96.
Twenty-eighteen marked the second consecutive season that Collins finished the year on IR as a fractured forearm caused him to miss the 2017 season finale against the Washington Redskins.
His injury history and the fact that the Giants defense hasn’t been good with Collins over the past two seasons is why general manager Dave Gettleman has cause to pause in terms of retaining Collins.
Another factor is Collins was drafted by the previous general manager Jerry Reese, and Gettleman has parted ways with several defensive starters from the Reese era such as Damon Harrison, Jason Pierre-Paul, Eli Apple and Devon Kennard.
If this is the end of the road for Collins with Big Blue, Landon Collins finish his New York Giants career with 437 tackles, 32 pass defense, eight interceptions and four sacks.
