La’el Collins available: Should the Raiders make a move?

Raiders positives for bringing in Collins

To be blunt, the Las Vegas Raiders’ offensive line was not good last year, and that’s not a secret. In fact, it was so “not good” that the unit found itself ranked 28th per Pro Football Focus.

It could have competed for 32nd, but Kolton Miller alone was so impressive that his 84.2 grade was the highest individual grade of any player from any line outside of the top-10. With Miller’s massive contribution, Vegas was able to scale up to 28. Kolton’s counterpart, rookie Alex Leatherwood, was not so impressive.

Leatherwood allowed a league-leading 65 pressures, per PFF, which gave him a pass-blocking grade of 29. The rookie played at both right guard and right tackle, before eventually making a permanent change to right guard down the stretch, where he started to show improvement.

When asked if Leatherwood would continue to play at right tackle or once again be moved to right guard next year, general manager Dave Ziegler simply said he won’t have an answer until the Raiders have the pieces and are trying to fill in the puzzle. In the event Collins lands in Las Vegas this upcoming year, Leatherwood would assume the role of starting right guard.

For the last few years, Collins has been referred to as a higher-end right tackle, and last season was no different. The Cowboys’ right tackle was part of the no.1 rated offensive line in 2021, where he earned an individual grade of 84 even; Just .2 lower than Miller. In his last two seasons of playing, Collins gave up a combined 4 sacks – Half the amount Leatherwood gave up last season alone.

As it stands, Collins is the 8th highest paid right tackle in the NFL, making a fair $10m per year over the next three years. As Dallas hasn’t been able to find a trade partner yet, the seven-year Cowboy could potentially hit free agency, allowing a team to sign him on a completely different deal.