It has been widely speculated that Colin Kaepernick is being blackballed from the NFL. However, it doesn’t sound like that’s quite the case. The controversial former Niners quarterback doesn’t want just any job, he wants a chance to compete for a starting job with a salary “befitting a high-end backup quarterback or a low-end starter,” ESPN.com’s Dan Graziano hears. 
That would put Kaepernick in range for a salary of $9MM-$10MM, Graziano writes, an asking price seems outrageous given his lack of performance and polarizing politics. As noted in the article, there are only five teams who could realistically offer Kaepernick a chance to start – the Browns, Jets, Texans, Broncos, and 49ers. However, there’s no way the Niners are going back down that road and the Jets don’t seem likely given owner Woody Johnson’s relationship with the president. If Tony Romo wants to continue playing and secures his release, he could wind up with either Houston or Denver, taking another team off the already narrow list.
Ultimately, Kaepernick will have to dial down his expectations if he hopes to land a deal for the coming year. He might not get to compete for a starting job and he certainly won’t be paid like a starter. The reality is that multiple teams have probably crossed him off the list over fear of him becoming a locker room distraction. With less suitors in the mix, the price naturally drops for any remaining clubs with interest. Until he’s willing to settle for less, Kaepernick will remain unemployed.
You reap what you sow.
Especially when you sow lousy football.
That’s adorable.
If he were smart he would try to follow where Romo ends up because Romo will get hurt and Kaepernick would have to start
What’s up butt lord?
I’m pushing to be the starting center fielder for the Brooklyn Dodgers, I like my chances better than Kap’s
I also like your chances better than his! His value in this market which has very few if any openings and his agent and his dream of 8 or 9 mil per year leads to a long wait! Maybe CFL to knock off the rust while someone makes the mistake of signing him?
Only if you get what Duke Snider made.
Hahahahaha
He sucks at football, that’s the real story here. Add the distractions and baggage and you have yourself an unemployed, terrible quarterback.
why do we keep talking about this ideot
*Idiot
When you misspell a word like that, it makes you look like one.
He overestimated his skills and value. He wanted out of SF for the past two seasons, I feel he orchestrated the whole ‘protest’ as a way for the 49ers to release or trade him. Let’s face he he didn’t want to play there since Harbaugh left. That didn’t happen, so he was forced to play out last year. Why all of a sudden once he opts out does he say he won’t kneel for the anthem again? Did his protest work wonders and solve the problems? Did he make such a deep impact in society his work was done? No! His self serving mission was complete, he was done with SF. He felt teams would line up at his doorstep for him, that didn’t happen, now instead of eating humble pie and taking an offer to ‘prove it’, he once again felt the typical over confidence that many players feel and thought he was going to be courted and have money thrown at him. Guess what, you’ve dug your own hole, now try and comb out of it.
Exactly man well said
kap has mental issues
This entire situation stinks. Not as much as the comment sections suck, but definitely up there.
My bar has nine 52″ TV’s, none will ever be tuned to the team that signs Kaepernick.
So you don’t believe in an American citizens right to protest? Seems like you are more anti-American than Kaepernick.
It’s the way he protested was the problem. There are other ways to protest.
I guess you think he should have started a riot and destroyed property, then. Or do you think holding his fist in the air and hanging his head would have been better? cause it got the last 2 guys blacklisted from their sport.
The saddest part is that everyone might as well have come out and said “geez Colin, you have a great point… but who the heck are you to bring it up, go jump off a cliff”, because all the attention went to HOW he was protesting and not the point of the protest. I guess some people don’t believe in the 1st Amendment as much as others.
Protesting and disrespecting the flag are two entirely different things
If he doesn’t feel that flag is representative of an inclusive culture, why would he respect it?
If you lived in Iran, and had a choice on whether or not to honor that flag, would you? We don’t have to like the choice that he made, but it is his right as an American citizen to make it. It really is unAmerican to think otherwise.
The only thing that offends me about Kaepernick, is the way he’s played QB the last couple years. But, even then, he is more talented and accomplished more than the likes of Glennon, Romo and Cutler.
You are a moron. Go hold your sign up at Trump tower Lib
The owner who is signing that fat check has a right to put an end to the “protest” .
So if Kaepernick is playing against your city/state’s favorite team (assuming your from a state with a football team), you’re not going to play the game because Kaepernick may or may not be playing? Good way to lose business. I’d like to see you explain to your patrons that the reason their city/state’s team game isn’t on is because you disagree with a single player on the other team.
No one is going to sign Kaepernick to a starting role (in the NFL) with Cutler and Romo still out there. Why sign and commit to Rosie O’Donnell when Kate Upton is available or will be tomorrow.
Lets not overreact and seriously think that Jay Cutler or Tony Romo is light years better than Kaepernick. Granted it was a couple of years ago, but remind me which of those three QBs helped (note the word helped, the defense did most of the work but Kaepernick’s dual threat ability was a difference maker…just ask the Packers) his team to a Super Bowl appearance. Remind me what Cutler has done in his career despite having at least one great WR during his time (Marshall, then Marshall and Jeffrey, and then Jeffrey)? Or remind me when was the last time Romo was healthy for a full season?
Romo and Cutler are both starters. Kaepernick is not s starter, but thinks he is and wants starter money. If he lowered his expectations and his demands to backup QB prices someone would pick him up.
Also, it’s not just that he didn’t stand for the anthem (which he changed his mind now that he needs a job), but he also wore socks of pigs on police attire. His fashion statement insinuating cops are pigs is why this guy thinks he’s a giant piece of crap.
I like odds of Romo or Cutler putting team 1st and not their personal agenda. He’s overrated turd! Always was.
Outside of the clear fact that there ARE reasons why you would commit to Rosie O’Donnell and not Kate Upton, nice try. Would you sign Kate for a comedy part over Rosie? If so, you got big balls, and you’ll most likely come out on the losing side.
This guy is a freakin moron. I love seeing him jobless and begging for an opportunity. I would rather give crazy Manziel an opportunity before this garbage.
Cutler and Romo are not Kate uptown lol More like Roseanne Barrs…but new prospects could be the Kate’s lol. Great weird comment. All 3 of those guys are low level starters imo
He was his own worst enemy! Maybe he can get his parents to keep him in the style he’s accustomed to! I am sure Don and Melanie are looking forward to having him move back home.
If people looked at this from a track record, performance, and precedents for deals for unproven/high-end backup stance, Kaepernick’s demands aren’t that crazy. Chase Daniels threw for 464 yards in 6 seasons and got $7 million AAV. Matt Flynn had one good game and got roughly the same amount. Brock Osweiler got roughly $18 million AAV for average play and was so bad that he got replaced by a Peyton Manning who could barely throw the ball. Mike Glennon got roughly $15 million AAV and has played in one game (appeared in another game) in the past two years. So without bringing up the drama that comes with him (which I understand why it is a big deal), please explain to me why Kaepernick is making outrageous demands.
Because all of those other QB’s were paid based on what the GM of the team signing them saw as for what they could potentially become. All of them had some level of success in a small sample size, which was enough to get some GM to think they could develop them and turn them into a viable starter if they got enough development and playing time. Kaep was a starter who regressed to the point where he is now below average. He was given several opportunities to get his starting job back in San Fran and failed each time. There’s no unknown potential that a team might think they could unlock. He’s a known quantity, and that’s working against him. For a backup QB teams want one of three things 1) a young unknown who might turn out to be a future starter or 2) a steady veteran who can be a mentor for a new QB and can be solid/if unspectacular if he needs to play or 3) cheap. Kaep isn’t either of the first two, so he needs to be willing to cut down his financial expectations.
My thoughts exactly
I’m pushing for a starting job too… I’ll probably have better luck.
I view it the opposite way. The dude wanted his guaranteed and started a quasi protest to ensure he would not be released because he knew the outcries against the organization for releasing him would be less loud then the outcries against him. He would have been released last season if he didn’t do what he did
Yea its more like Betty White and Hilary Clinton available, so why take a chance on Amy Roloff
He can go start for the Saskatchewan Rough Riders.
He can sit through “Oh, Canada” to protest seal clubbing or something.
Overrated. Looks like his “protest” came back to bite him in the butt.
Good post.
your wrong, just flat out wrong. ANY protest involving the flag honors it, everything it stands for, and every soldier who ever fought for it.
So when people burned the flag in protest of this past election was that honoring it as well? Because that would seem like a pretty counteractive way of honoring the flag, everything it stands for, and everyone who fought for it.
And you fell for it…check out his username.
Lol, well his username would imply that he hunts for trolls, not that he is one.
Kaepernick is 100% roasanne barr. Started out great, drank too much of their own cool aid, and crashed and burned.
JT19 has a serious man crush / fascination with the Kap.
I’m just defending the man. While I understand why his actions offended others, it didn’t offend me and I couldn’t care that he kneeled. I also could care less about his performance as I’m not a 49ers fan or Kaepernick fan. I mean his public stance (both implicit and explicit) on cops/Castro/kneeling for the anthem/whatever else is definitely a reason why he doesn’t have a job. Teams don’t want to deal with that drama, I agree 100%. But from the viewpoint of what has he done and what can he do, he’s on par with almost every other high-end backup in the league. He still can’t make reads, but not many QBs can say they helped a team to a Super Bowl appearance (the defense did most of the heavy lifting, but he definitely helped get them there). You look at him from a pure numbers perspective, and there’s no reason why he shouldn’t be at least competing for a backup spot.
Why I’m defending him is because people see “Kaepernick” and immediately come to criticize him and basically call him trash/junk/loser/etc to satisfy themselves. Someone doesn’t like seeing him in the headlines or news? Change the channel/don’t read the article. Someone doesn’t like him protesting? He’s 100% allowed to do that, if the team/organization/league disagrees with his protest, they can release him. There’s people still out there (both on this site and not on this site) who still think Kaepernick meant disrespect to the country and military with his kneeling when he was come out and said that wasn’t his intention (whether that’s sincere or not, who knows). Someone disagrees with his protest for whatever reasons? That’s great, that’s their American right to do so…but it’s also his American right to protest and use his status as a (probably former) football player to try to get awareness. LeBron/Melo/Wade/CP3 did the same thing by using their status to create awareness, it was just done in a less controversial way. Me expressing my opinion of Kaepernick, which comes off as defending him, is the same as other people here giving their opinions of him by criticizing him.
No buddy, the only one wrong here is you. First of all what kaepernick did wasn’t a protest, at least not according to the legal definition. Kaepernick is (was) an employee of the 49ers. He doesn’t get to protest while he is working. That is a clear definition. Kaepernick didn’t do anything to honor the flag. His entire stance was, “until blacks are respected I refuse to respect you”. Trying to call him a hero or even an activist is intentionally misleading. This has nothing to do with race, as Colin is only 20% black, and was raised by white people. Also, his socks representing police officers as pigs is unacceptable. I’ve been a football/49ers fans for decades, long before kaepernick came along. This guy was a scrub from day one, and I wasn’t one of these people who thinks alex smith would of won us the superbowl (at that time) but now I’m pretty sure kaepernick cost us the game. Film doesn’t lie.
Also, kaepernick problems on the field are well documented. He spends too much time in the weight room and not enough time watching film and learning. This has been his scouting report since college. The only time kaepernick got better was the off-season he spent with Kurt Warner, and for some reason he didn’t stick with it after it showed results. Teams are smart to stay away from this guy. But go ahead, keep calling names and insulting people because you want to pretend this is about race or politics.
Kaepernick’s percentage of him being black and who he was raised by hardly plays a factor in the racial issue, but that’s besides the point.
I agree with your last paragraph though. He’s honestly not that great, but he’s at least put up numbers to warrant a shot at being a backup QB elsewhere. Not counting rookies, other QBs have done less statistically and still gotten chances with other teams. His price is high for a backup, but even if he dropped his price to $3-$6 million, I still don’t think teams would sign him because of the whole politics issue and the drama/fan backlash that would come with him. It’s not the only reason, and probably not the main reason, but the politics/drama issue is a big reason why no one wants him. I’m saying this as someone who has defended Kaep but why would I want him and his baggage when I could sign someone like RG3 who gives me a similar skillset but doesn’t come with nearly as much baggage as Kaep?
Spot on buddy. Whats more important to Colon now is a paycheck.
Hahahaha…. Colon Koppernuts is overrated and worthless, Koppernut would not make a pimple on an NFL QB’s posterior….. and chances are better than average that there will not be one NFL team willing to take a flyer on COLON KAPPERNUT, and hope no one will…..KOPPERNUTS does not deserve to to play in the NFL,……period.