Welcome Home: Cowboys Ex Play-Maker Signs With Browns

The league year started off right for former San Francisco 49ers defensive tackle Maliek Collins, who was waived by the fledging franchise Wednesday afternoon. Within an hour of being released he agreed to a two-year $20 million contract with the Cleveland Browns. Collins will be guaranteed $13 million according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter who was first to break the news. Collins is projected to start on the Browns defensive line as he will take the spot vacated by Dalvin Tomlinson, who was released in a cost-cutting move. Collins has been a starter since he entered the league. This is the third team in two seasons for Collins who was traded from the Houston Texans last season to the 49ers, where it just did not work out for him. The 49ers released him as part of their cost-cutting moves to free up cap space for quarterback Brock Purdy’s soon to NFL record-setting contract extension.

Collins had a stellar 2024 season as he finished with 33 tackles and five quarterback sacks. He also had two fumble recoveries. Collins played in 67 percent of the snaps for San Francisco last season.

Collins started his career in Dallas where he spent his first four seasons. … and was a playmaker in a Cowboys uniform when he wasn’t plagued with injury problems. He then played in Las Vegas for one season before spending the next three with the Texans. Dallas selected Collins in the third round of the 2016 NFL Draft out of the University of Miami. He played in 136 games during his nine-year career.