FLOWERY BRANCH – Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff addressed the La'el Collins situation before he was signed by the Cowboys.
“As far as Collins . . . I think when you look at any of the players that are up there that have talent you consider, I prefer not to go into specifics of our discussions,” Dimitroff said. “Suffice it to say, there is no question that we always look and consider those players and try to determine if they are right for our system or not. We obviously didn’t bring him in here …”
The Falcons were monitoring Collins’ legal situation. He was projected as a top 15 pick before his was linked to an investigation into the murder of his pregnant former girlfriend.
Collins was questioned by Baton Rouge, Louisiana, investigators about Brittney Mills' death on April 24 but is not considered a suspect. While not a suspect, he has yet to be fully cleared.
With the cloud of a murder investigation hanging over his head, he went undrafted. The Dallas Cowboys signed him to a modest two-year contract on Thursday.
“Anytime that you are dealing with something that is of substance like that I think it of course is going to have you considering the repercussions or potential repercussions,
The Falcons drafted Eastern Washington tackle Jake Rodgers in the seventh round. The Falcons line has been ravaged by injury over the past two seasons.
“We had offensive line on our mind through our draft preparation,” Dimitroff said. “The way that things landed for us, we decided that we were going with some of our other needs.”
The Falcons believe the offensive line will be much improved.
“We continue to believe that this offensive line has some really good football players and some upside that fit the scheme that we are going with,” Dimitroff said. “We are encouraged by that for sure. A lot of our guys are healing up very well and things are going to work out well that way.”
[cmg_cinesport url=http://cinesport.ajc.com/embed/ajc-atlanta-sports/d-led-regrets-falcons-draft/]
The AJC’s D. Orlando Ledbetter and CineSport’s Noah Coslov get into the Falcons regrets and surprises from the NFL Draft. Plus, they talk about the ceiling for LB Vic Beasley.
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