La'el Collins Bribery Allegations Detailed in NFL Court Documents Against Cowboys OL

Dallas Cowboys offensive lineman La'el Collins has been accused of trying to bribe a drug-testing official by the NFL. 

Per the Associated Press, the accusation was made in court documents made public Friday. 

Collins was suspended five games by the NFL on Sept. 10 for violating the league's substance abuse policy. NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported the suspension stemmed from the 28-year-old missing drug tests. 

Per ESPN's Adam Schefter, Collins' discipline was also handed down for trying to bribe the league's drug-test collector. 

Collins filed his lawsuit against the NFL on Wednesday, and he was seeking an injunction to end the final two games of his suspension.  

According to the court documents, the NFL said the sample collector wrote in his notes last year that Collins "asked to meet with him 'man to man' and said he felt he was 'being tested too much because (they) were seeing each other every day.'"

The NFL's filing also notes the collector said Collins offered him $5,000 and $10,000 at one point. 

"He allegedly bribed a collector without giving him any money, to look the other way on a test that was negative?" player agent Peter Schaffer, one of Collins' representatives, said during the court case. "No witnesses, no nothing. He walked in in a T-shirt and shorts on crutches. How can you bribe somebody?"

Collins was also accused of missing "seven drug tests in a five-week period around the time of the alleged bribe in November 2020."

The five-game ban came about as the result of a process that began before the 2020 season. Collins was initially going to be suspended for the first four games last season, but it was negotiated down to a fine by the management council and NFL Players Association. 

According to the NFL, Collins continued to miss his drug tests so he was given a two-game ban after the union negotiated down his five-game suspension. On appeal, an arbitrator reinstated the five-game ban amid the bribery accusation. 

Per the AP, Collins' representatives are arguing he was disciplined despite the NFL CBA that "no longer allowed for suspensions over missed tests or positive marijuana tests."

The Cowboys signed Collins as an undrafted free agent out of LSU in May 2015. He has appeared in 63 games in seven seasons. 

Dallas signed Collins to a five-year contract extension worth up to $50 million in Sept. 2019. 

Collins didn't appear in a game during the 2020 season due to a hip injury. He did start the team's Week 1 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers before being suspended Sept. 10. 

If the suspension remains intact, Collins will be eligible to return to the Cowboys in Week 8 against the Minnesota Vikings.