The San Francisco 49ers are in desperate need of offensive line help, and an experienced starter in La’el Collins is still available.
According to Bleacher Report, the deal comes as tackles Trent Williams (groin) and Jaylon Moore (concussion), as well as guard Aaron Banks (toe), remain injured for the 49ers. Moore and Banks did not practice on Wednesday or Thursday, although Williams participated in a limited capacity on Wednesday and practiced on Thursday.
“Collins has experience playing guard and tackle, and it would be smart to have a proven veteran on hand as an insurance policy for the playoffs,” a member of the Bleacher Report staff stated.
Collins, a four-year starter for the Dallas Cowboys, has 86 career starts and three more in the postseason. Collins was a Cowboys player from 2015 to 2021 before joining the Cincinnati Bengals in 2022.
Collins started 15 games for the Bengals last season before suffering an ACL and MCL injury late in the season. This year, his return attempt was cut short as the Bengals released him in September after he spent time on the reserve/PUP list.
By making that move, Cincinnati saved $7.4 million in salary cap space. According to MassLive’s Mark Daniels, the New England Patriots were interested in Collins in September – the club Collins was injured against.
La’el Collins is a surname. In return, expressed confidence
Collins stated to Sports Illustrated’s All Bengals writer James Rapien before the season that he fully anticipated to return to the field this year.
“Every day, I’m able to do some different, I can tell that my knee’s locked in there it’s stable,” Collins said to Rapien. “It’s not going anywhere.”
By making that move, Cincinnati saved $7.4 million in salary cap space. According to MassLive’s Mark Daniels, the New England Patriots were interested in Collins in September – the club Collins was injured against.
La’el Collins is a surname. In return, expressed confidence
Collins stated to Sports Illustrated’s All Bengals writer James Rapien before the season that he fully anticipated to return to the field this year.
“Every day, I’m able to do some different, I can tell that my knee’s locked in there it’s stable,” Collins said to Rapien. “It’s not going anywhere.”
“Schofield has experience playing every spot on the line except for center, so he could potentially fill in for Banks or would at least be a good depth piece for San Francisco,” Bleacher Report staff wrote.
49ers Offensive Line Issues Could Lead to a Tight End Moving Over
If the 49ers don’t have enough depth at offensive line on game day, tight end Charlie Woerner would move over to the line.
“We’d have to kind of makeshift that,” 49ers run game coordinator and offensive line coach Chris Foerster told reporters on Thursday.
“And it’s kind of funny, I was telling Trent this this morning because they’ve only recently gone to eight offensive linemen,” Foerster added. “When I got in the NFL there was, we always had eight up, but then special teams and everything else took over.”
“So then we went to seven, everything became seven all of a sudden. So you had seven and very few times, probably three times in the course of 25, 30 years did you have to get to the some other position playing offensive line,” Foerster continued.
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