Getty Image / Jim McIsaac
Back in 2019, there was no question about where Landon Collins stood among NFL safeties. He was coming off of 3 consecutive Pro Bowl appearances and had already earned an All-Pro nod and was only finishing his 4th year in the league. It seemed like a no-brainer that the Giants, who had drafted him 4 years earlier, would keep him around.
They didn’t. Collins’ name had become a popular one in trade speculation during his final season with the team and when it came time to negotiate a new contract with him, the Giants opted not to re-sign him. Instead, he went to the Washington Commanders.
The Commanders released him this past offseason, just 3 years into the 6-year contract he signed with them back in 2019, giving the Giants the opportunity to bring him back last week.
Now that he’s back with the Giants, Collins has opened up to the New York Daily News about what happened when he left the team. According to Collins, it was all Dave Gettleman’s fault, much like most of what has happened with the Giants in recent years.
Landon Collins blames Dave Gettleman for his departure from the New York Giants
The 2016 Giants All-Pro never wanted to leave as a free agent in 2019, but he wasn’t fond of Dave Gettleman and the former GM’s lack of appreciation for the safety’s skills.
“Facts, facts, facts, facts,” Collins said Wednesday. @PLeonardNYDN https://t.co/Ao7LnubteC
— NY Daily News Sports (@NYDNSports) October 12, 2022
I want fans to understand that. It wasn’t the Giants. It was Dave Gettleman. It sucked. I wanted to stay but Gettleman didn’t want me here. So I had to take my chances somewhere else.
The move was a disappointment for Giants fans at the time, who had to watch one of the best draft picks their team had made in recent years leave for a division rival, but it also didn’t work out too well for the Commanders.
Collins struggled with injuries in 2020, only playing 7 games, and saw his level of play drop in 2021, leading to his release during the offseason.
Collins is expecting to return to the form fans saw during his first stint with the Giants in his return to the franchise that drafted him.
I’ve been injury prone for the past, what, two years, three years? So that’s my biggest downfall right now. But other than that I’m still a playmaker, I’m still a baller, and I love this game. It’s definitely humbling coming from when you’re the top [guy] and now you’re back to ground one.
If he can get anywhere near that level again, he’ll help make a Giants defense that has already been making life difficult for opponents even more impressive.