La'el Collins meets with police, still not considered suspect
NFL prospect La'el Collins met with Baton Rouge, La., police on Monday and is still not considered a suspect in the murder of Brittany Mills, a police spokesman told the New Orleans Times-Picayune.
Collins was expected to be a first round pick in last week's draft but went undrafted after police said they wanted to speak to him about the murder. Police said from the beginning that Collins is not a suspect in the killing.
Collins is believed to have dated Mills. Mills, 29, was shot to death in her home on April 24 and was eight months pregnant when she was killed. Her son, named Brenton, died a week later and his death has been ruled a homicide.
News that police wanted to speak to Collins first broke last Wednesday, the day before the first round of the draft. Collins's agent then attempted to pull his client from the draft and have him entered into this summer's supplemental draft. Collins had been in Chicago for the draft but returned to Louisiana to speak with police.
• BURKE: Limited options for La'el Collins
Collins reportedly decided that if he were drafted in the fourth round or later he would not sign with a team and planned to re-enter the 2016 draft. Players who are drafted and do not sign can enter a subsequent draft, but because Collins went undrafted, he is now a free agent.
"If he’s not drafted [at all]? He would be the same as any other player in this draft," NFL spokesman Greg Aiello told The MMQB's Robert Klemko. "He becomes a free agent like any other undrafted player. You only go through one draft. If he’s drafted and sits out the year, he would go back into the 2016 draft."
Collins was a three-year starter at LSU, playing left guard as a sophomore and left tackle as a junior and senior. He was a first-team All-SEC and second-team AP All-America selection in 2014.
- Dan Gartland
