Detroit Lions: 3 perfect trade destinations for Jamie Collins Sr.

The Detroit Lions should look to the Miami Dolphins as a potential trade partner for Jamie Collins Sr.

The obvious connection here is Dolphins head coach Brian Flores who comes from the New England Patriots coaching tree.

Flores cut his teeth under Bill Belichick starting back in 2004 as a scouting assistant and then a pro scout before landing his first coaching job in 2008 as a special assistant.  In 2010 Flores was elevated to offensive assistant and special teams coach, followed by a defensive assistant in 2011.  After that, Flores spent four seasons as New England’s safeties coach and three seasons as the teams’ linebackers coach before landing his first head coaching gig in 2019 with Miami.

The Dolphins are coming off a somewhat surprising 10-6 campaign in 2020 after a 5-11 season in 2019.

Last season under Flores, the Dolphins produced the fourth-best scoring defense allowing just 21.1 points per game despite allowing 368 yards per game.  That is a typical New England-esque bend don’t break defense.

So far in 2021, the Dolphins have allowed 353.5 yards per game through their first two contests and have allowed 25.5 points early on in the season.

The Dolphins are starting Sam Eguavoen plus former Patriots linebacker Elandon Roberts and Jerome Baker in 2021.  Eguavoen has produced a stellar 77.7 overall grade according to Pro Football Focus (PFF), and Roberts sits at 52.9, and Baker, who leads the team with 137 defensive snaps, sits with an atrocious 39.5 overall grade.

PFF is not the be-all, end-all of the rankings, but it gives us an idea of how a player is performing in all aspects of the game.  PFF seems to love Collins; he currently sits with a 64.7 ranking.

Collins fits Flores’ defensive scheme and should be an upgrade at the position.