The Cleveland Browns open training camp next week — rookies report July 23, veterans July 28 — and the most productive interior lineman they had in 2025 may not be on the field when they do. ESPN’s Daniel Oyefusi reports that it remains unclear whether defensive tackle Maliek Collins will be healthy enough for the start of camp as he works back from the quad injury that ended his season in Week 13.
Collins sat out the entire spring program — no OTAs, no minicamp — and as Pro Football Rumors’ Ben Levine noted Tuesday night, a delayed start to camp would cast some doubt on his availability for the season opener too. The injury cut short the best year of his career. Signed on a two-year, $20 million deal in the 2025 offseason, Collins produced a career-high 6.5 sacks with 25 stops, seven tackles for loss and 13 quarterback hits, and Pro Football Focus graded him 12th among 127 qualifying interior defenders — with the third-best pass-rush grade in the group.
The timing is what stings. This is Cleveland’s first season without Myles Garrett, now a Ram, and the front was built to generate pressure by committee: Jared Verse carrying the edge work with Alex Wright and Isaiah McGuire behind him, and Oyefusi pointing to Mason Graham as the X-factor inside. Every part of that plan works better with Collins collapsing the pocket from the interior. Without him, the committee loses the one member who consistently won his matchups last year.
The honest read: hope says he’s ready for Week 1, and there has been optimism around the building on that front. Evidence says the rehab has already swallowed the whole spring, and until Collins practices in Berea, the interior rotation is a question rather than a strength. July 28, when the veterans report, is the first real checkpoint.
In IDP fantasy formats, Collins finished 2025 as one of the better interior scorers on the strength of that sack total, but an uncertain camp start makes him a monitor, not a target, in August drafts. If he opens camp on the sideline, expect Mason Graham’s snap projection — and his IDP stock — to climb accordingly.
