All the while as the Giants bookended their draft with offensive linemen, taking Miami's Ereck Flowers in the first round and Florida State's Bobby Hart in the seventh, LSU's La'el Collins sat on their value board.

Presumably a first-round talent, Collins plummeted into the ranks of undrafted free agents amid an investigation into his ex-girlfriend's murder a week before the draft. While it is unknown how many teams actually considered taking him and passed round after round, the Giants certainly talked about risking a pick on him in the draft room.


"We thought about La'el the whole draft because he was sitting up there," Vice President of Player Evaluation Marc Ross said immediately after the draft. "But we were going to pass on that."

The temptation level was probably high, since Collins is regarded as a talented tackle whose future dominance may come at guard, and the Giants certainly could use a depth at that position. But given the current awareness of potential character problems, heightened by the Aaron Hernandez murder case in Massachusetts and a string of domestic violence issues that plagued the NFL in 2014, the Giants joined everyone else in passing on Collins.

Whether the Giants are still willing to reject a player who earned pre-draft acclaim as one of this year's top linemen is a question. According to NJ.com, the Giants are "in the mix" to sign Collins as an undrafted free agent following his cooperation Monday with Baton Rouge police, when they deemed him no more of a person of interest than "a neighbor." For now, anyway.

As of now, Collins will not be joining Flowers, Hart, and the rest of the rookies and first-year players convening Thursday for the weekend's rookie minicamp. Apparently, Collins won't be signing with any team just yet, as his agent put out Tuesday that he's not taking offers from anybody yet, despite the fact that Miami sent three of his former teammates to entice him and that USA Today reported that he had dinner Monday night with Buffalo coach Rex Ryan.

But that doesn't mean something couldn't happen down the road.  And if it's a matter of recruitment, the Giants have their own weapon in Odell Beckham, Jr., who LSU recruited in the same class as Collins. More than anything, it's whether the Giants feel they could still use Collins, and whether Collins sees the Giants as his entry point into the NFL.

The latter will be the determining factor. Flowers, at 6-foot-6, 329, is regarded as a possible franchise-type successor to Will Beatty at left tackle, but will likely start off on the right side. And Hart, at 6-5, 330, is projected as a mauler-type guard who will begin his career as quality depth behind Geoff Schwartz, John Jerry, and possibly Justin Pugh.

Certainly, there is room for a talent like Collins. But Collins could consider a place like New Orleans more advantageous, since the Saints did not draft anyone to fill a stated need at guard. Collins could probably step right in and start there.

Whether the Giants want to risk a character issue is another story. Though Collins was said to have cooperated fully with the Baton Rouge authorities in the hour-long interview, a big difference lies in excluding him as a suspect for now and clearing him entirely. Still, even a status reversal wouldn't cost any team a major financial hit, since first-year pay for undrafted players is $435,000. That's a smidgeon of the $4 million signing bonus Collins would have commanded as top 15 pick. But he can make some of that up if a team was willing to guarantee his first three years.

Whether the Giants want to do that remains to be seen. Chances are, Jerry Reese is simply doing the same homework he'd do on any other interesting candidate. Chances are, Collins will view another team as a better situation.

Ultimately, it will be up to him.