Due to injuries, the San Francisco 49ers are in desperate need of an offensive lineman, and La’el Collins is still available.
According to Bleacher Report, the 49ers might sign the player while guard Aaron Banks (toe) and tackles Trent Williams (groin) and Jaylon Moore (concussion) are still sidelined. Williams participated little on Wednesday and practiced on Thursday, while Moore and Banks did not practice on those days.
The staff of Bleacher Report stated, “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.”
Collins has started 86 games in his career, including three postseason games, while serving as a consistent starter for the Dallas Cowboys for four seasons. Collins was a member of the Cowboys from 2015 to 2021; in 2022, he moved to Cincinnati to play with the Bengals.
Collins injured his MCL and ACL late in the season, but he was able to play in 15 games for the Bengals the previous year. After spending time on the reserve/PUP list, the Bengals dismissed him in September, therefore his effort at a comeback this year was unsuccessful.
Cincinnati made the decision to free up $7.4 million in salary cap space. According to MassLive’s Mark Daniels in September, Collins drew interest from the New England Patriots, who happen to be the team that Collins got hurt against.
Collins fully expected to get back on the field this year, which he expressed to Sports Illustrated’s All Bengals writer James Rapien before the season.
“Every day, I’m able to do some different, I can tell that my knee’s locked in there it’s stable,” Collins told Rapien. “It’s not going anywhere.”
“I mean, every day I come in. I do a little more. I feel a little better. I get a little stronger. So we’ve just been stacking good days on top of good days,” Collins added.
The Niners certainly have other free agent options to consider besides Collins.
Bleacher Report previously suggested Michael Schofield III as an option. He also has 86 starts in his career. Schofield notably played for the 2015 Denver Broncos team that won the Super Bowl at Levi’s Stadium, and he last played for the Chicago Bears in 2022
Collins fully expected to get back on the field this year, which he expressed to Sports Illustrated’s All Bengals writer James Rapien before the season.
“Every day, I’m able to do some different, I can tell that my knee’s locked in there it’s stable,” Collins told Rapien. “It’s not going anywhere.”
The Niners certainly have other free agent options to consider besides Collins.
Bleacher Report previously suggested Michael Schofield III as an option. He also has 86 starts in his career. Schofield notably played for the 2015 Denver Broncos team that won the Super Bowl at Levi’s Stadium, and he last played for the Chicago Bears in 2022.
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, because they’ve only recently gone to eight offensive linemen, I was telling Trent this this morning,” Foerster continued. In the NFL, we used to always have eight up, but eventually, special teams and other things took over.
“After that, everything suddenly became seven and we went to seven. Thus, you had seven and very infrequently—probably three times over the course of 25, 30 years—had to switch to a different position while playing offensive line, according to Foerster.
