The Dallas Cowboys have released offensive lineman La’el Collins, per ESPN’s Todd Archer. He played for the Cowboys from 2015-21 and signed with the team again earlier this month.

Collins began his professional career in Dallas after going undrafted in the 2015 NFL Draft. Collins saw action early during his time with the organization due to injury issues ahead of him on the depth chart. However, Collins quickly caught the injury bug as well and only played in 15 games during his first two NFL seasons.

Ahead of the 2017 season, Collins signed a two-year, $15.4 million contract extension. He started in all 16 of the Cowboys’ games in the 2017 campaign. He was equally consistent the next season, not missing a game in 2018.

Collins was reward for his efforts, signing a a five-year, $50 million contract extension with the Cowboys in September 2019. Collins played 15 games in the 2019 season, but disaster struck in the summer before the 2020 campaign when Collins suffered a neck injury in a car accident.

He was placed on injured reserve and missed the entire season. Collins recovered from his injuries and started in the Cowboys’ 2021 season-opener. Alas, he received a five-game suspension before the Cowboys’ next game for violating the league’s substance abuse policy.

Collins returned for the Cowboys in Week 7, but could never solidify his place as a starter again for the team. Ahead of the 2022 season, the Cowboys granted Collins permission to seek a trade. He was ultimately released by the organization on March 17, 2022.

Collins returned to the Cowboys for a short stint in early 2024. However, he never was called up from the team’s practice squad and was cut shortly after being signed. The Cowboys reunited with Collins again this year after offensive linemen Rob Jones and Tyler Guyton were sidelined with injuries.

Evidently, the team has decided it won’t need La’el Collins’ services moving forward. At 32 years old, Collins has 89 career appearances and 86 starts. Just two weeks ago, Collins opened up on how much it meant to him to return to Dallas.

“Anytime you’re fighting to get healthy, especially with the injury I had late in 2022, a lot of people don’t even get a chance to even think about coming back,” Collins said. “But I just had faith, man. I had faith and I trusted the process. I knew if I did my part in staying prepared that an opportunity would come along.

“I mean, obviously the best-case scenario was to go back where it all started and that’s to be here. I mean it’s nowhere [else] I’d rather be, that’s 100% a fact. Even when I left, it was nothing like home. So this is what I know. This is where my heart is, so I want to continue to finish off strong here.”