On Tuesday, the Atlanta Falcons announced they have waived troubled cornerback Jalen Collins. The former 2nd round draft pick (42nd overall, 2015 draft) from LSU had 45 tackles and two interceptions in the 2016 season, following serving a four-game suspension due to violating the National Football League’s policy on Performance Enhancing Drugs.
If Collins clears waivers Wednesday, he will be available to sign with any team. However, conditioning will be a major key because Collins hasn’t played a down in the regular season since last season’s Super Bowl. Collins is coming off a 10-game suspension and has not played for the Falcons this season.
“So I addressed the team, talked to DQ, everybody knows what’s going on,” Collins said August 7th after the suspension was announced. “I know I let a lot of people down. Everybody’s really disappointed, including myself. This is something that I’ve been struggling with and that I’m working on it to put behind me. Just ready to move forward.”
The 10-game suspension cost Collins $546,141. With the Falcons decision to release Collins today, the team saves $344,098 against this year’s salary cap. His cap number for this season is $1,447,856.
