Making sense of letting Landon Collins walk

My son Albert is heartbroken. The New York Giants told his favorite player, Landon Collins, that he is free to go. Collins, a top play maker on a team that so desperately needs them will now explore free agency while the Giants will continue to search for a defense. Why on earth would they make such a move? Here are some ideas that have crossed my mind as an avid fan that I haven't seen anywhere.

First, Collins franchise tag would have cost $11.5 million which would have made him a big ticket item. A team only has so many of them and General manager Dave Gettleman doesn't believe in committing big money to a safety. There are also many other safeties out there this year, the latest being former Raven Eric Weddle. You can get a high caliber safety much cheaper than Collins and still have his money to use on positions higher valued by Gettleman such as lineman and edge rushers.

Second, I'm guessing that if defensive coordinator James Bettcher was that in love with Collins, then he would have fought for him and tried to keep him. Collins, as great as he is, does suffer in coverage and probably didn't fit into Bettcher's defense the way that someone like Tre Boston, who's also available, would.

Collins departure leaves a void in the Giants defense. That void is in the form of a check. What they do with that check will determine whether letting Collins go was a good move or not. We should know more next week when the NFL free agency signing begins.

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