#360view: Belichick has benefit of the doubt with Collins trade

Jay Asser 02:19 01/11/2016
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  • From first to worst: Jamie Collins.

    Bill Belichick, more than anyone in the NFL, deserves the benefit of the doubt.

    For even the staunchest ‘Hoodie’ supporter, the decision to trade away Jamie Collins is a difficult one to wrap your head around.

    Collins is one of the best defensive players in the league and by sending him packing for Cleveland’s compensatory third-round pick in 2017, the New England Patriots are literally giving away a key cog for nothing in a season they’re contending for a Super Bowl.

    Tom Brady is currently defying Father Time and looks like he can easily play into his 40s, but the fact is he’s still 39. Even if he prolongs his career, who knows how long he can remain at an elite level.

    When hearing the news though, the kneejerk reaction among the Patriots faithful had to be disbelief, followed by an adage that’s proven to be right over and over again: in Bill we trust.

    If this wasn’t New England, but any other team in the league, there would be nothing to defend. You don’t find athletes like Collins growing on trees or in every NFL draft.

    Old school, burly linebackers have become marginalised in the modern NFL, while pass rushers and defensive backs are now even more sought after with the shift to a pass-heavy style of play. But that’s also made someone like Collins a valuable commodity. He has the rare ability to do it all on the defensive end, from rushing the passer to stopping the run to dropping into coverage.

    He’s essentially a Swiss Army Knife, exactly the type of player the versatility-admiring Belichick adores, which only makes the trade more confounding.

    Many will point to Belichick’s long history of moving on from veterans who, in hindsight, ended up being on the downward trajectory of their career – guys like Lawyer Milloy, Ty Law, Deion Branch and Richard Seymour.

    There is, however, nothing to suggest Collins fits that mould. He’s a 27-year-old who, if anything, appears to be ascending. He
    became an All-Pro and Pro Bowler for the first time last year and there’s been little evidence for any step backwards this season.

    From what we can gather, the real reason Collins will experience the unfortunate drop from the league’s best team to its worst is for not seeing eye-to-eye with what the Patriots want to do.

    Michael Lombardi, who worked under Belichick during the head coach’s time in Cleveland and then with New England in 2014 and 2015 as an assistant to the coaching staff, gave his opinion on the trade on Twitter, saying he wasn’t surprised and believing the linebacker had been freelancing too much.

    That could be why Collins played in 48 of 70 snaps against Buffalo this past week, compared to his usual role as an every-down player.

    But all that is speculation at the moment. What we do know for sure is that Collins is going to be worth a pretty penny in free agency in the offseason and the Patriots have a slew of core players at the end of their contract.

    Being able to re-sign those guys was what the Chandler Jones trade to Arizona before the start of the season was supposed to be for, but this could be two-fold. It could be Belichick sticking to his guns on what he feels a player is worth, or it could mean the other shoe will drop, whether that’s a trade or signing of a star.

    Either way, Belichick and the Patriots will find a way to come out on the favourable end, because that’s just what they do.

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