Former Patriots executive Michael Lombardi had some interesting comments about the team’s decision to trade linebacker Jamie Collins on Monday.
Lombardi, listed as an assistant to the coaching staff in the team’s 2015 media guide, was with the Patriots from 2013-16. He is now an analyst on Fox Sports.
After news of the Collins trade emerged Monday, he weighed in with several opinions in a series of tweets.
Lombardi also discussed the trade in an interview with Colin Cowherd.
“I used to tell Jamie in the meetings: ‘We are as good as you want us to be.’ But there’s times where Jamie just didn’t really want to be,” Lombardi said. “He played on an 0-11 team in Southern Miss., and sometimes he plays like he’s still on that team. And I think, at this point, they just said, ‘You know what? We’re not going to sign him in free agency, it’s time to move him on.’
“To me, this was all about sending a message to all the other guys in the locker room.”
Watch: Michael Lombardi on Jamie Collins
ON FOOTBALL: Collins’s final game as a Patriot wasn’t a good one
RELATED: Bill Belichick isn’t afraid to ditch top players
RELATED: In stunner, Patriots trade linebacker Jamie Collins to Browns
Follow Matt Pepin on Twitter @mattpep15.
