New York Giants: Letting Landon Collins Walk for Nothing is Foolish

The New York Giants made a head-scratching decision to let defensive leader Landon  Collins walk out the door with no compensation.

The New York Giants officially let one of their leaders go.  Safety Landon Collins said his goodbyes to the team and city of New York after the team decided to not use the franchise tag.

The three-time Pro Bowler was a leader of Big Blue’s defense and a fan favorite in the New York area.  In his four seasons with the team, he led in tackles every single season.

On the Stick to Football podcast, Matt Miller let it be known that the team could have traded Collins earlier and received a first round pick for him.  There was talk about Collins being traded, however, Giants’ general manager did not get the return he wanted.

This is pretty shocking considering the team had no issue trading their best defensive player, Damon Harrison, in the middle of the season to the Detroit Lions.  When Collins was still on the roster after the trade deadline it seemed like a clear indicator that he was staying on the team long-term, or at least until the next season.

With Curtis Riley also set to hit free agency, the Giants will have no starting safeties from last season.  A new hole for a team that has plenty to plug up in time for next season.

Many will argue that the team let him go because he struggles in pass coverage.  You don’t solve problems by creating new ones.  The Giants secondary as a whole needed to get better in pass protection.  To blame the guy who can stop the run and brought a high level of physicality to the team seems counterproductive.

This free agency period will be loaded with safeties including Collins, Earl Thomas, and Tyrann Mathieu.  It is unlikely that any of the available safeties will be on the market for long once free agency opens.