Jamie Collins, a 6-foot-3, 250-pound linebacker, made a ridiculous request.

Collins begged Gregg Williams, his defensive coordinator with the Cleveland Browns, to let him play safety in 2017. At first, the idea sounded enticing. Collins played safety — and nearly every other position — during his time at Southern Mississippi. Why not experiment with a different position?

On second thought, however, the idea is ludicrous. And frankly, the Browns should be disappointed Collins is “begging” to play a position that isn’t his natural NFL role.

“He’s begging me to play free safety, and I’m not saying he couldn’t be the best one out there right now,” Williams said via Cleveland.com. “If he wants to play defensive end, he could play defensive end. There are a lot of things about his versatility that it’s going to be fun and challenging to find spots to cut him loose and let him go.”

Let’s start by not overstating this. Collins didn’t cross some major line; he didn’t break any rules.

But for a player who lacked effort at times in 2016 and then still received a four-year, $50 million extension with the Browns, Collins’ focus should be on his game and his position. The fact that he is not focused on his job is likely why he’s in Cleveland — not New England. The linebacker was freelancing in his final half season with the Patriots, which was one of the driving factors that resulted in a trade, according to former Patriots assistant Michael Lombardi.

Collins didn’t need to maintain the “do your job” mentality in Cleveland. But he’s clearly abandoned it. And perhaps, this serves as evidence he had abandoned it before he left New England.

What’s more, Collins should take one look at the depth chart and recognize he’d be doing the team harm by playing safety. They’ve already got Jabrill Peppers and Calvin Pryor, a pair of thumping safeties. Both players need snaps as they continue to develop. Meanwhile, Cleveland is desperately thin at linebacker — you know, the position the Browns paid Collins to play.

I’m not blind to the fact that Collins can play a handful of positions. He was one of the Patriots’ most versatile players. But realistically, Collins is too big to play safety at this point in his career. He doesn’t know the position, and probably hasn’t taken a single NFL snap at it.

Football shouldn’t be all serious all the time. But Collins is acting like he plays for a 1-15 team and wants it to stay that way.