Lions place Jamie Collins on trade block, would Rams make sense as destination?

Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell confirmed on Thursday that the team is attempting to trade linebacker Jamie Collins and that the team won’t be working with the player while they look to find a deal. Campbell didn’t rule out that Collins would play for the Lions again entirely, but said that Detroit has potential trade partners already and that they’d like to make a trade “sooner than later.”

“We’ll see where it goes. There again, we’re just letting this thing play out right now. We’ve got suitors right now. Certainly, we’re hoping to have this done sooner than later. We’re not necessarily putting a timetable on it, either. We’ve had open communication with Jamie. We sat down and told him straight up and he’s been good. He understands. “

The Lions have dire issues at linebacker but in a rebuilding year are looking to give more playing time to rookie fourth round pick Derrick Barnes. Collins, a second round pick of the Patriots in 2013 who has also played for the Cleveland Browns during his nine-year career, and he had 101 tackles in 14 games with Detroit last season.

Collins has 10 tackles through the first two games of 2021 and there are reasons to believe that the LA Rams could be one of those suitors.

The most obvious reason is that the Rams continue to shuffle around linebackers and they just lost Micah Kiser to the Denver Broncos after placing him on the practice squad. Justin Lawler also just broke his hand and could miss some time, though he is also on the practice squad. Depth and potential concerns with run defense are more reasons to think that a veteran linebacker like Collins might be a target if he comes at a low cost.

The other reason is that Lions general manager Brad Holmes is a longtime protégé of Rams GM Les Snead and former executive in the Rams organization. The two general managers made the Matthew Stafford-Jared Goff trade in January, then followed it up with another deal involving Michael Brockers.

It would be logical to assume that the two are often talking about how they can help each other when the timing makes sense. If it makes sense with regards to Collins, we’ll find out soon.