Patriots Trade LB Jamie Collins To Browns For Conditiona Draft Pick

Update:

The Browns officially announced that they’ve acquired LB Jamie Collins from the Patriots in exchange for a conditional draft pick.

“We are always looking for ways to improve our roster by acquiring talent and the trade deadline sometimes grants you that opportunity,” said Browns Executive Vice President of Football Operations Sashi Brown. “Jamie Collins is a talented-tough-young-playmaker that our coaches and personnel staff think can be a great fit for our defense. We feel really good about being able to add him to our team and look forward to getting him into our building and having him work with our coaches.”

“Jamie Collins is a really good football player and we’re excited to be able to add a player like him to our team,” said Browns Head Coach Hue Jackson. “He’s played at an extremely high level with toughness and playmaking ability for his entire career. We look forward to him being an important piece of our defense. The plan is for him to come in and learn our system quickly so he can make an immediate impact.”

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ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that the Patriots are trading LB Jamie Collins to the Browns for a compensatory 2018 third-round pick.

According to Tony Grossi, the conditional pick included in this trade can be compensatory 2017 third-round or the Browns 2018 fourth-round pick, depending on if the Browns receive a third-round comp this year.

• Ben Volin reports that the Patriots were “having a lot of trouble” in negotiations with Collins in regards to a long-term extension.
• Schefter says that Collins was targeting “Von Miller money” – six-years at $114.5 million — at one point in contract talks with the Patriots.
• Schefter mentions that Collins is now a “prime candidate” to receive the Browns franchise tag next year, depending on how extension talks go.
• Collins agent, Bus Cook, tells Ian Rapoport of the trade to the Browns: “I spoke to him. He’s excited about getting over there.”
• Cook added: “The thinking is, if they don’t want me, go someplace that does.” (Ian Rapoport)
• Former Patriots executive Michael Lombardi mentioned that he’s not surprised by the move at all, given that Collins has not been playing well and the Patriots need to get their defense sorted out.
• Lombardi adds that Collins has been doing “whatever he wants” on the field and this wasn’t going to continue.

This is a stunning trade for a number of reasons. The Browns were widely expected to be sellers at the deadline, not buyers. Beyond that, the Patriots are one of the top contenders in the league and Collins is one of the most talented linebackers in the league.

However, the Patriots have been preparing for losing one of their linebackers in free agency, so it appears as though they felt it was wise to get something for him now and start preparing their other players to handle larger roles this season.

The Browns will likely try to work out a long-term deal with Collins in the coming months or use their franchise tag on him.

Collins, 27, is a former second-round pick of the Patriots back in 2013. He’s currently in the final year of his four-year, $3.761 million contract and set to make a base salary of $917,865 for the 2016 season.

In 2016, Collins has appeared in seven games for the Patriots and recorded 43 tackles, one sack, two interceptions, a forced fumble and three pass defenses. Pro Football Focus has him rated as the No. 9 linebacker out of 87 qualifying players.