New York Giants: Landon Collins Makes Official Goodbye To New York

In something of a baffling move, the New York Giants decided not to use the franchise tag on Landon Collins. It means that one of their best defensive players and the leading member of their secondary is going to become a free agent, and not only will the Giants lose Collins, but they won’t get anything for him. It might free up salary cap room for next season, but it’s unlikely that the team will be able to replace Collins’ production using that extra cash.

However, the deadline to use the franchise tag has passed and the matter is a done deal that Giants fans will have to live with regardless of what they think about the decision. There’s no turning back now, and Collins himself has taken to Twitter to say goodbye to the city and the team that drafted him all the way back in 2015.

Collins will leave the Giants as a fan favorite and will likely have a positive legacy with the team despite not playing as long as some of the other memorable Giants of the past. After all, the majority of fans wanted the team to sign Collins to a new deal, and at 25, Collins will go down in the record books as a player that left the Giants in his prime with plenty of things left to accomplish.

During four seasons with the team, Collins registered 428 tackles and 32 passes defended as well as 8 interceptions and, during the 2016 season, four sacks. His hard-hitting style and skill against the run is both something that will be remembered and something that’s hard to replace, and at the end of the day, most Giants fans will be asking one thing: why let a player like this go for nothing?