It’s been a full week since the confetti dropped after Super Bowl LV, but the Dallas Cowboys have been off since the regular season ended as they did not make the playoffs. Things were dark from the jump in the 2020 season for America’s Team and only got worse as players like Dak Prescott and Tyron Smith were lost for the season, but one of the team’s most important players never even began the campaign.
Starting right tackle La’el Collins seemed to have issues from the onset of training camp. He never played a game for the Cowboys in 2020 and the hope is that he will be back and healthy in 2021, but we aren’t even a week into the offseason and many NFL rumors have been percolating. Apparently one regarding Collins had as well.
La’el Collins’ agent denied rumors that his client will be retiring
Normally when somebody denies a rumor the rumor has to, being super technical here, exist. That is sort of the foundational principle to what what a rumor is.
Rumors are of course speculative and not necessarily true, again part of the fabric as to what makes them what they are. La’el Collins’ agent, Deryk Gilmore, took to Twitter on Saturday to address what he defined as a rumor – that La’el Collins was apparently going to be retiring this offseason.
To address the rumors – no, my client La’el Collins is not retiring. He loves football and the @dallascowboys and is working for a Super Bowl ring.
Have a blessed weekend everyone!— Deryk Gilmore (@DerykGilmore) February 13, 2021
Odds are this is catching you by surprise. That is generally the way that Twitter took it as well. It’s possible that this “rumor” was swirling behind the scenes more than anything, but wherever it was flying around it reached the point that Collins’ representation felt that something needed to be said.
The 2020 season was not a good one for Collins as he missed the entire year, but did so after reporting to training camp in what would not be categorized as optimal condition. If you follow Collins on Instagram you can see him updating his story a bit these days and showing himself training, that in and of itself would seemingly refute any idea that he would be thinking about calling it a career.
La’el Collins went undrafted in 2015 and has played his entire six-year career with the Cowboys (obviously he did not play last season). He signed an extension with the team right before the 2019 season began.
Many Cowboys fans have been wondering whether the team’s more prominent offensive tackle, Tyron Smith, will be able to battle through constant injuries that have plagued him the last few seasons. Tackle is already a big need for the Cowboys entering the acquisition period, but any sort of retirement from a starter would obviously change that a significant degree.