Lions DT Damon Harrison Sr. trying to recruit Landon Collins

As a flurry of news passed over the NFL landscape on Monday, with several teams placing the franchise tag on key players and a handful of players escaping the designation, it appears New York Giants safety Landon Collins will land in that latter category. After weeks of debating whether the All Pro safety had cleaned out his locker or not, Ian Rapoport is reporting that Collins is “unlikely” be given the franchise tag, leading to a probable unrestricted free agency path for the 25-year-old.

The Detroit Lions just let a Pro Bowl safety of their own go, as Glover Quin was released a couple weeks ago. While Detroit has both Quandre Diggs and Tracy Walker, they could certainly use another player in the mix, and someone as talented as Collins doesn’t come around that often.

Lions defensive tackle Damon Harrison Sr. is doing his part, as he hit up his former Giants teammate on Twitter, trying to convince him to come to Detroit.

The Matt Patricia-led Lions haven’t been shy about adding former Giants players in the past year. They obviously traded for Harrison, they claimed (and subsequently re-signed) former Giants defensive end Romeo Okwara, and added linebackers Devon Kennard and Kelvin Sheppard last year.

Collins, who obviously can’t really publicly discuss much about his free agency until he’s officially on the market, did respond to Snacks in a very vague way:

Only time will tell if the Lions would make an aggressive move like this. Given that they have some more pressing needs at cornerback, tight end and along the defensive line, it may not be wise to spend the kind of money that may be required to nab Collins in free agency, but Detroit’s defense would undoubtedly benefit from adding a talent like him, especially still in the prime of his career.