NFC West Notes: Cardinals, Kaepernick, 49ers

Could the Cardinals and Chargers hammer out a trade? The Cards have some question marks at tackle and cornerback and GM Steve Keim says he isn’t inspired by the options currently available on the open market. At the same time, he says he’ll meet with Bolts GM Tom Telesco this week when the two teams have their joint practices, as Darren Urban of AZCardinals.com writes. He expects they’ll discuss their respective rosters and deficiencies, in hopes they can ask each other, “Hey, is there an area where we can help each other improve?’”

Here’s more from the NFC West:

• Will Colin Kaepernick play for the 49ers this year? His status in SF is in flux following news of his “dead arm,” Mike Florio of PFT opines. On the surface, talk of this mystery problem hurts Kaep’s value. On the other hand, Florio wonders if word of this issue is actually better for his trade value than a declaration that he has lost the starting job to Blaine Gabbert based on talent. Earlier this summer, the Niners backed out of a potential trade with the Broncos because they were unwilling to pick up a sizable portion of Kaepernick’s salary. At this point, Florio believes that the Niners would be willing to entertain such a deal. Alternatively, the 49ers can do what the Browns did with RGIII – keep Kaepernick on the bench for all of the 2016 season to avoid the risk of having to pay out his injury guarantee of $14.5MM for 2017.
• 49ers GM Trent Baalke isn’t a big fan of the term “rebuild,” but that’s clearly where the team is right now, Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports writes. SF is taking the long approach, and that means building through the draft. “That’s historically what wins,” Baalke said. “It’s tough to buy championships in any sport [but] it’s damn near impossible in the National Football League. … We absolutely have a young core group of guys that are going to move into their second contracts here. And I think people will see that this year as it unfolds. The Aaron Lynchs. The Jimmie Wards. The Carlos Hydes. They’re good football players and they’re only going to get better.”
• Tony McDaniel can thank Snapchat for his deal with the Seahawks, ESPN.com’s Sheil Kapadia writes. Last week, McDaniel posted a Snapchat photo at the Atlanta airport. His agent, David Canter, saw the photo and asked McDaniel where he was flying to. He said he was headed to Seattle to visit some family and friends. “[Seahawks director of pro personnel] Dan Morgan and I got into a text message exchange,” Canter said. “I said to them last week, ‘Hey, Tony’s going to be in town. It’s a free workout. Worst-case scenario, you bring him in, he looks like crap, he stays home. You don’t even have to pay for a flight.’ ” Needless to say, the 31-year-old made a solid impression on the Seahawks. Sealver Siliga‘s calf injury also helped his case, of course.