5 former Detroit Lions who might be done in the NFL

4. LB Jamie Collins

Collins was one of the last remaining vestiges of the “Patriot Way” in Detroit when the Lions released him early last season. He naturally landed back in New England, playing in 10 more games last season with 20 total tackles and one sack over an even 200 defensive snaps.

Collins topped 100 tackles for the Lions in 2020, so it doesn’t necessarily seem likely that he’s suddenly got nothing left. But the Patriots parting ways as easily as they did, in favor of getting younger at linebacker (barring circling back to him in the coming weeks), still seems meaningful.

Collins will turn 33 in October, and he may be trying to bide time for a chance to have a key role on a good team. But it doesn’t seem like he’ll be able to have both a key role and a spot on a good team, and New England looks like the only place he’d get close to it. There’s at least a coin flip chance Collins is just eventually, before Week 1, and effectively told by the league that he’s done.