CHICAGO -- Another day, another wait for La'el Collins.
The drama surrounding the LSU offensive lineman's draft status will linger into Day 3 Saturday with the once-projected first-round pick still unchosen.
And if his agent isn't bluffing, he'll be unsigned, as well.
Collins' agent, Deryk Gilmore, said earlier Friday that his client would refuse to sign a contract if he were not chosen in the second or third round, and resubmit an application for the 2016 draft, according to NFL Media Insider Ian Rapoport. Friday's second and third rounds passed without Collins, so a team that picks Collins in rounds 4-7 Saturday essentially enters a poker match with Gilmore.
And when first-round chips are at stake, there is no blinking at the table.
Collins' relationship with Brittney Mills, 29, has been a question for Baton Rouge police since Mills was shot and killed April 24. Mills was reportedly in late-term pregnancy, and the baby originally survived. The baby has since died. Collins has not been named a suspect by law enforcement, but with uncertainty about the case among NFL clubs, Collins has gone undrafted to this point.
Gilmore's hope, obviously, is to get Collins re-drafted in 2016 as a first-round pick. The league's collective bargaining agreement states that drafted players who don't sign can be redrafted the following year. Where things could get really interesting is if Collins isn't drafted at all -- in that scenario, he would be a free agent along with dozens of other undrafted prospects who will sign with NFL teams in the days following the draft. How Gilmore might advise Collins in that scenario is unclear.
Previously, Gilmore attempted to have Collins withdrawn from the draft and entered into the league's supplemental draft this summer, but the request was denied.
Collins won the Jacobs Trophy as the top offensive lineman in the SEC last season, playing left tackle at LSU. He was projected by most NFL teams as an offensive guard, a less valuable position, but was still thought to be a strong candidate for a first-round selection.
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