Posted on 03/17/2017 10:07:05 AM PDT by Kazan
It's more than a week into free agency and Colin Kaepernick is still unemployed. Remember, this is a quarterback who played in the Super Bowl only four years ago, yet now it appears he can't get a look from teams. So I set out to discover, once and for all, what teams think of the 29-year-old former Niner.
"He can still play at a high level," one AFC general manager said. "The problem is three things are happening with him.
"First, some teams genuinely believe that he can't play. They think he's shot. I'd put that number around 20 percent.
"Second, some teams fear the backlash from fans after getting him. They think there might be protests or [President Donald] Trump will tweet about the team. I'd say that number is around 10 percent. Then there's another 10 percent that has a mix of those feelings.
"Third, the rest genuinely hate him and can't stand what he did [kneeling for the national anthem]. They want nothing to do with him. They won't move on. They think showing no interest is a form of punishment. I think some teams also want to use Kaepernick as a cautionary tale to stop other players in the future from doing what he did."
When I spoke to a handful of executives at the combine a few weeks ago, one even called him "an embarrassment to football."
For the moment, the interest in Kaepernick is slim, and that's putting it kindly.
It's possible teams are waiting for the right time to make their play for him. That's sometimes how it works in free agency. Weeks or months will go by with little interest in a player and then, boom, it all heats up at once.
But what's happening with Kaepernick is highly unusual. So far, it seems he hasn't visited a single team. I can't find a quarterback-needy team that's interested. Again, things can change quickly, but the silence is deafening.
From a football perspective, teams worry about Kaepernick's throwing accuracy. He still has some difficulty hitting tight windows and sometimes runs even when receivers are open. In 2016, Kaepernick connected on 59.2 percent of his passes, which ranked 26th in the league.
There's also the perception—a wrong one—that he has difficulty learning new schemes.
And if those weren't enough, concerns linger that he is moody and not a good teammate. That belief also may not be accurate. From speaking to 49ers players about Kaepernick, it's clear most of the San Francisco locker room liked him.
Kaepernick can take hope in how putrid the quarterback market is. When Jay Cutler is at the top of the heap, that says it all.
There are still teams desperate for a competent QB, so much so that one eventually will find the risk in signing Kaepernick is worth any potential backlash. That's my guess.
Still, it's hard to emphasize how unusual Kaepernick's current situation is. If a Super Bowl quarterback can walk and chew bubble gum simultaneously, he gets opportunities. Those opportunities usually arrive until that player is totally and completely done. That's not the case with Kaepernick.
Four years ago, he ran for a playoff-record 181 yards and two scores at Green Bay as the 49ers beat the Packers in a divisional playoff game, 45-31. The Niners would then go to Atlanta and upset the Falcons in the NFC title game before losing Super Bowl XLVII to the Ravens when a last-gasp drive fell five yards short. Throughout those playoffs, Kaepernick was more than capable, completing 61.3 percent of his passes, throwing only two interceptions and producing a combined quarterback rating of 100.9.
Guys like that get multiple shots.
Further adding to the intrigue is that teams understand Kaepernick hasn't been playing with a great deal of talent around him recently. The 49ers, frankly, have been a dumpster fire the past few years, and it showed with some of the players with which the team surrounded their QB.
Despite all of that, his phone is not ringing off the hook. Or at all, for that matter.
Kaepernick's new agents appear to have foreseen all of this, which is why it wasn't surprising when sources told ESPN's Adam Schefter that Kaepernick would start standing for the anthem.
Now, he sits. Waiting and waiting. A still-talented player whose political statement may have cost him his NFL career.
Looking past his tantrum didn’t he have a 1 win, ten loss season last year?
The NFL can never acknowledge his antics had anything to do with them losing money. Since the NFL supported him sponsors can take them to court to get out of or reduce their contacts early due to the league purposely devaluing their product. If the NFL admitted to what clearly happened sponsors would easily win most lawsuits. The NFL’s rear is in the wind on this one but they stayed politically correct through the whole thing which is all that matters to them and the left.
When the Raiders won’t even pick you up, you’re done. They’re famous for taking in strays.
You're right, the league won't admit it.
But they don't have to.
You can see what's happening right now. Kaepernick is toxic.
You don't disrespect the national anthem, and thereby the United States, and play in the NFL.
The two acts are mutually exclusive.
Now the chickens are coming home to roost.
Nobody will sign Kaepernick, or if they do, it'll be for well bellow his market value, necause any team who signs him will lose massive amounts of revenue.
Money talks and bullsh!t walks. I hope Kaepernick enjoyed his one season being a disruptor, because the guy basically destroyed his NFL career.
At this point, I don't see how Kaepernick redeems himself, other than to issue some kind of groveling mea culpa...
“The NFL is still living through the backlash that really had its seeds sown with the treatment of Tebow.”
That’s absurd.
Kaepernick’s problem is NOT his politics. He is a terrible QB past whatever prime he had.
However, saying politics is not his problem is like when hearing that JC Penney’s is closing another 138 stores, saying that politics had nothing to do with that!
The idea that half of NFL teams hate what Kaepernick did about the National Anthem is just some Leftist writer’s imagination. NFL team executives are even more PC than other big business executives.
CK has played himself into a backup role for which there are plenty of other candidates who would do as well for less money than CK expects, and be happier in that backup role.
Nobody who can perform is too big a jerk for the NFL.
20 percent genuinely believe that he can’t play.
10 percent fear the backlash from fans after getting him.
10 percent have a mix of those feelings.
60 percent (”the rest”) genuinely hate him and can’t stand what he did [kneeling for the national anthem]. They want nothing to do with him. They won’t move on.
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I just had to excerpt those numbers, because it’s not often that you read the truth on that disgusting, spoiled brat’s rudeness. The author says 20% of teams think the loser can’t play and the other 80% don’t want him because either they or their fans can’t stand him. I’d call that a big win for America.
hmmm- the ‘fake American’ (New liberal snowflake trigger word) is unemployed- lemme see if i can conjure up a tear.............. Nope!
There, I said it. It's racism on the part of NFL owners, clear and simple.
-not
I hope Philip Rivers, who I love, retires. I hope the Chargers, who I now hate, sign Colon Krappernick. The most hated quarterback would be a perfect fit for the worst NFL owners, the Spanoses.
So NFL teams won’t hire a quarterback who (1) offended a large part of the fan base, (2) started his NFL career strong but proved since then that he doesn’t have the Right Stuff. Obviously racism.
I would say it is even simpler than that.
NFL teams are first and foremost, businesses and businesses hate bad publicly. Kaepernick’s playing abilities (or lack there of) do not make up for the bad publicity. It does not make good business sense to hire someone who is going to piss off a substantial number of your customers and seriously reduce your team’s earnings potential.
“So no, nothing would be better without the NFL, it would be all the same problems, only with a different league.”
I failed to add in all the other Alphabet Soup Sports “Associations.” These are private businesses. They should not be allowed to gain access to places to “Play” by having the taxpayers finance them. I like motorsports, but I don’t see anyone getting the public to pay for those venues. Bruton Smith owns the Charlotte Motor Speedway (NASCAR). He came out here to California and bought Sears Point Raceway out of bankruptcy, has spent millions of his own money to make it a world-class facility and had to battle with the local dairies and wineries over the noise. But it’s a big time money maker and no government money was involved.
“Kaepernick’s problem is NOT his politics.”
BS. That’s exactly it. I was in SD when he was boo’d off the field. They didn’t boo him because of his performance. That was secondary.
Third, the rest genuinely hate him and can't stand what he did [kneeling for the national anthem]. They want nothing to do with him. They won't move on.
Well, actually we have sort of moved on, haven't we?
Agree, he would be toxic in a locker room.
It’s the way I see it.
Well, you reap what you sow, Colin....
True, but don’t be surprised if black “leaders” start pressuring the NFL with racism charges the longer Kaepernick is left unemployed. Much as I can’t stand these so-called leaders, I would enjoy watching the NFL having to deal with them.
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