Should the Saints take another swing at adding Jamie Collins?

A couple of bad games has prompted the Detroit Lions to decide they’ve seen enough of Jamie Collins. First-year Lions coach Dan Campbell confirmed the team is exploring a change at the position, following a report from ESPN’s Adam Schefter that Detroit is actively seeking a trade partner for the embattled veteran — “Hoping to get this done sooner rather than later,” as Campbell put it.

And Collins, of course, signed with the Lions last summer after drawing interest from the New Orleans Saints, including a contract offer. Now that he’s available again, could they try to land him again?

First you’ve got to wonder why they would want to. Collins hasn’t played well enough to hang with Detroit, so what would he offer New Orleans? Campbell was reserved in his comments about Collins’ work ethic and energy, but it’s no secret that Collins loathed his time with the Cleveland Browns before returning to the New England Patriots (where he played well enough to earn this Lions contract). Maybe he’s received another reminder that the grass isn’t always greener on the other side.

But you’d have to think Sean Payton would perform his due diligence before cutting a deal with Campbell, who was his assistant head coach last year. If Collins is a bad egg about to turn 32, he doesn’t exactly look like what they need. On the other hand, Collins could genuinely benefit from joining a different locker room and working with different coaches. His low $3.166 million salary cap hit makes the proposition at least worth exploring, though it would still need some creative restructuring to fit on their books.

Depending on where you look, the Saints are beneath the salary cap by as little as $2.32 million (Over The Cap) and $4.22 million (Spotrac), with the NFLPA reporting $2.77 million in Saints cap space. That’s not enough to add Collins outright and reserve enough funds for daily expenses like promoting players from the practice squad.

While the Saints looked to be running unusually deep at linebacker this year, that depth was tested and quickly washed away just two weeks into the season. Starter Kwon Alexander is on injured reserve. So is one of his backups, Chase Hansen. Promising second-year pro Zack Baun was victimized by the Panthers last Sunday and rookie Pete Werner has been inactive for both games so far. If the Saints can bring in Collins for a decent price (maybe a fifth round draft pick in the next year or two), they should consider it. They don’t have much to lose.

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