You are right. Collins left a lot; he would have been all he can be; with Coach taking him full effort in physical training and pro skill set. VV; love the player, but the young-uns were going to give him a run for it - seriously; if your doing 17 bench presses and not improving every day; getting reps could become a problem. OUR D line is going to be stunning at times. I am not sure VV will show the promise for the future to gain a roster spot in his first year; he had up too ten times the Chance, with the new coach IMO>
I'd be utterly shocked if he doesn't make a roster. You don't draft a guy in the 3rd to cut him in camp.
IF they do make a roster, they would have cost themselves money by NOT leaving early. Collins I would be willing to bet will make a roster but he could have possibly earned a higher draft spot and better first contract by staying. IMO, Parella is going to make a difference for his players. Valentine will be lucky to get training camp money and make a practice squad. That said, unless he had a major makeover this year, I don't think staying another year would have helped him. Something tells me that Parella and he would not have meshed well. Out of shape and lazy would have been a deal breaker I'm guessing for Big John.
Not really. IF they make a roster, they would have eliminated a year of lost wages. People always forget how short the window is for most NFL players and the time value of money. IF you lose a year of wages you never get that back. Collins might have gotten a better first contract BUT he never would have gotten that year of income back AND he would have risked a career ending injury. VV was probably never going to be an NFL player no matter what. He will have to have a major makeover to make it.
Collins has never had a reputation of being lazy. Are you talking about Valentine?
Well it's not difficult math. If you end up UDFA and sign to a practice squad for league minimum ($450K) when you could have posted a solid senior year, been a mid-rounder, and signed for a few multiples of that, the better monetary play is the additional year in college.
It's pretty doubtful that either of those guys were going to be more than second rounders no matter when they came out. They just don't have the physical attributes IMO. They would have had to have made a giant leap their last year. We'll never know. I thought Collins was pretty darned good but I just doubt that even Parella could have made him a first rounder. VV? No way.
Disagree about VV. He needed to show he could produce every play, every game, for an entire year, which is something he didn't come close to doing. If VV had stayed and had his typical year, there would be no change in his circumstances that if he had left early. Maybe he thought what he gave was the best he had.
Seems like a left field shot at coach Riley; was he supposed to consider age discrimination? You may have missed the coaching connections and that another assistant strongly supported the hire. I would like to give Coach credit for making a quick change ; tough deal, but the guy wasn't following the agreed upon path - Coach R didn't come here to semi-retire = needed a change to avoid what happened to Coach Calahan
