Minnesota Vikings right tackle Brian O’Neill exited the team’s Week 14 win over the Las Vegas Raiders with a left ankle sprain that could hamper him for the remainder of a crucial stretch of the season.
Injuries are mounting on the offensive line as guard Ed Ingram missed the first game of his career with a hip injury and guard Dalton Risner left the game for a few snaps. Minnesota nearly ran out of bodies on the offensive front in its 3-0 win over the Raiders, prompting Bleacher Report to urge the team to sign veteran La’el Collins with four games left in the season.
“It’d be a smart move to bring in a veteran offensive lineman who has experience playing guard and tackle just in case either of those two have to miss time,” Bleacher Report’s staff wrote on December 11.
Collins has seven years of starting experience and is an ideal, versatile player who could replace O’Neill, the team’s prized right tackle who signed a five-year, $95 million deal in 2021, if he misses extended time.
O’Neill was seen in a walking boot leaving Las Vegas, according to the Star Tribune.
A likely top-10 prospect coming out of the 2015 draft, Collins went undrafted due to involvement in a police investigation surrounding the murder of a 29-year-old pregnant woman, Brittany Mills.
Collins was not a suspect, but had a previous relationship with Mills, and was asked to speak with Baton Rouge police after the draft. Without police publicly exonerating him before the draft, teams were skittish to invest a first-round pick in the draft, a matter that was exacerbated by Collins’ agent, who threatened Collins would sit out the season if drafted outside the third round.
