Landon Collins’ comments on his future present front office with big decision

It didn’t last very long, but the Washington Football Team pulled off a second half turnaround for the second straight season in 2021.

In many ways, Landon Collins was the poster child of the club’s surge coming out of the bye given how putrid he was early on.

We won’t dive too deep down memory line, but Collins was legitimately one of the worst defenders in the NFL playing as an every down safety. At one point, we were convinced he had no future with this franchise.

Then, however, Ron Rivera made the executive decision to move Collins to his preferred role as a hybrid linebacker/safety. The new position, coined as the Buffalo nickel role, allows the former All-Pro to play closer to the line of scrimmage.

As a result, Collins was playing some of his best football since he signed with Washington during the 2019 offseason before he landed on injured reserve with a foot injury. His value has largely been salvaged, but his contract makes it no guarantee that he’ll return to the team next year.

It’s unclear how the front office feels about Collins’ future beyond 2021, but the former second-round pick recently made it clear that Washington is the only place he wants to be…even in his new role.

Landon Collins is committed to Washington for the long haul.

"“I would love to stay here within the role that I’m playing in, and if they love me. I love being here,” Collins told Nicki Jhabvala of The Washington Post. “This is where I wanted to be drafted to when I first got into the NFL. So yeah, I would love to be here.”"

Hard to be more upfront than that, right?

Given how much fans got on his case earlier in the season, we wouldn’t have blamed Collins if he wanted to test new waters. Some athletes prefer to jump ship when adversity strikes. Not to mention, nearly the entirety of his tenure with Washington has been a disappointment up until this point given what he signed for, so it’s really commendable of Collins to want to stick around.

While Washington can save roughly $6 million by cutting him in the offseason, doing so would just create another whole on the defense. After all, how many players on the roster can fill his shoes in the Buffalo nickel role? Probably none.

At 27 years old, Collins has plenty of gas left in the tank. Is it annoying that the coaching staff has to play to his strengths to get the best out of him? Sure, but don’t blame the player for making more than he’s worth.

That miscalculation is on the organization.

For argument’s sake, let’s make a quick comparison of Collins and the consensus best hybrid safety in the NFL, Jamal Adams. Full disclosure: These are their numbers before Week 15, so bear that in mind.

• Collins (12 games): 74 tackles (7 for loss), 3 sacks, 5 pressures, 29 run stops, an interception and a 84.3 run defense grade.
• Adams (12 games): 86 tackles (4 for loss), zero sacks, 7 pressures, 28 run stops, 2 INTs and a 77.3 run defense grade.

But we thought no other safety in the game can do what Adams does! And he makes over $3 million more annually than Collins!

If you couldn’t already tell, we’re in favor of bringing the Alabama product back. The contract might need to be restructured in some way, shape or form, but if he’s content with his new position, that shouldn’t be much an issue.

Nobody’s saying he’s a perfect player. He’ll always have the occasional maddening missed tackle and lapse in coverage.

However, the bottom line is Collins has morphed into one of Washington’s most important defenders and the franchise has ample cap space set up for 2022. He’s reinvented himself and deserves at least one more year in Ashburn, even though his season is all but over after he was placed on IR.

The ball’s in your court, Washington.