It has been roughly one month since NFL free agency began on March 9, and in that time, it has become pretty clear that none of the NFL’s 32 teams has any interest in signing Colin Kaepernick -- at least, not right now.
During the past five weeks, Kaepernick hasn’t even visited a team, and that’s mainly because no one has invited him in for a workout. The fact that Kaepernick hasn’t been able to find a job in the NFL has left some of his former teammates baffled.
Niners running back Carlos Hyde has watched over a dozen free-agent quarterbacks sign a new deal this offseason, and by his estimation, at least one of those spots should’ve gone to Kaepernick.
“I’ve seen some quarterbacks who got signed that, in my opinion, Kap is way better than,” Hyde told CSN Bay Area on Monday.
Although Hyde didn’t mention any of those quarterbacks by name, it’s possible he’s talking about Josh Johnson, Chase Daniel, Kellen Moore, EJ Manuel, Case Keenum, Matt Barkley, Nick Foles, Mark Sanchez, T.J. Yates or Matt McGloin. Each one of those quarterbacks has signed a new deal this offseason.
Hyde would love to help Kaepernick, but unfortunately, he’s not in a position to do anything.
“You know, I’m not a GM. I’m not a head coach. So that’s out of my league,” Hyde said.
One person who seems to feel the same way as Hyde is Navorro Bowman. That 49ers linebacker said that Kaepernick should absolutely have a job at this point.
“I think he’s proven that he can play at this level,” Bowman told CSN Bay Area. “He’s made a choice that’s kind of had a little backlash from it. But I think he’ll be fine.”
Bowman’s referring to Kaepernick’s decision to kneel for The Star-Spangled Banner, something he reportedly won’t be doing in 2017.
“Someone will give him a job,” Bowman said. “He’s not like a bad guy or anything. So I think that’s what matters in the NFL, if you can play level and your character is great. So I wish him the best.”
The biggest problem for Kaepernick right now is that he reportedly wants a chance to start and there doesn’t seem to be a team willing to give him that chance, which isn’t all that surprising.
If you look back to last season, there weren’t exactly a lot of takers for Kaepernick, and that was before his pregame kneeling became a national controversy. In April 2016, the 49ers were open to trading him, but there were literally zero takers. The Broncos were slightly interested, but they were going to go after him only if Kaepernick were interested in taking a pay cut that he had no interest in taking.
If Kaepernick wants to start, then his only real options are the Texans, Jets, Browns and 49ers, and you can scratch San Francisco off that list because they don’t want him back. Basically, if Kaepernick’s willing to be a backup quarterback making backup money, then he’ll probably find a job sooner rather than later.
On the other hand, if Kaepernick’s still a free agent when training camp rolls around, he could end up making some serious money if any team ends up losing its starting quarterback during the preseason.
Kaepernick went 1-10 as a starter for the 49ers in 2016. Despite the ugly record, the 49ers quarterback did throw 16 touchdowns against only four interceptions.
