When Mike Vrabel decided to accept the job offer to become the Patriots next head coach, he knew he was walking into an undesirable roster situation oustide of the quarterback. Although having Drake Maye as the QB1 was far better than no quarterback at all, much of the roster needed a lot of upgrading, especially around Maye.
That led the new regime to prioritize the offensive line in this year's draft, as they took the best left tackle of the 2025 class, Will Campbell, with the fourth overall pick. They also added a few more pieces, like a blocking running back, a center, and a swing tackle in the seventh round.
However, all that work might not translate to much in the upcoming season, as one problem persists: a lack of proper depth on the offensive line. It could become problematic if any injuries occur throughout the year, which could make one recently released veteran that much more appealing.
The Patriots might want to kick the tires on Cowboys' veteran La'El Collins
During a busy release day in the NFL on Sunday, the Cowboys announced they were (once again) moving on from veteran offensive tackle La'El Collins, who played for their team for six years. During that time, he played in 74 games (71 as a starter) and mostly served on the right side.
La’el Collins is among the players being released by the Cowboys today, according to a source. Collins, who started 71 games for the Cowboys from 2015-21, joined the team in training camp and played in three preseason games. Coaches praised his work with young OL, DL.
— Todd Archer (@toddarcher) August 24, 2025
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Although he has had a chaotic few years in the NFL, stemming back to the 2022 season, he was a long time reliable option on the Cowboys' offensive line, protecting Dak Prescott for several years. Some of his best seasons were his most recent, according to PFF, with 2019 and 2020 being his noticeable best.
That might be ages ago in the NFL world and he might not be a long term solution, but given how desperate the Patriots might be to find suitable offensive line depth, there's no reason not to look into Collins and see what he could do serving behind Morgan Moses.
At the very least, he adds some depth to a weaker position and gives the Patriots some sort of comfort in case anything happens with Moses throughout the upcoming season. It's even more crucial that they bring someone in after releasing Layden Robinson on Sunday, who had played right tackle last year.