Even with Garoppolo out, 49ers aren't interested in a Colin Kaepernick return

The San Francisco 49ers will have to go for the rest of the season without their starting quarterback. Jimmy Garoppolo tore his ACL Sunday while attempting to plant his leg and cut back toward the end zone during the 49ers' loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. The team officially announced the diagnosis on Monday and ruled him out for the remainder of the year. 

For now, he'll be replaced by backup C.J. Beathard. But the 49ers will also hold workouts for a group of ... uninspiring quarterback options. 

Tom Savage went 1-6 as the Texans' starter last season, while throwing five touchdowns against six interceptions. Kellen Clemens hasn't thrown more than eight passes in a season since 2013, and that year he completed south of 59 percent of his passes at just 6.9 yards per attempt. T.J. Yates has thrown 11 interceptions in 324 career passes. Matt Moore hasn't been a regular starter since 2011 and was dreadful during two games filling in for Jay Cutler in Miami last year. Nick Mullens is a practice squad player who played at just a slightly above average level in Conference USA. 

So, as typically happens these days when a team has a quarterback opening, the coach was asked about one of the top available free agents: Colin Kaepernick. Of course, Kaepernick used to be with the 49ers, but he has been out of the NFL since the 2016 season after he began kneeling during the national anthem. 

According to coach Kyle Shanahan, the 49ers are not interested in bringing Kaepernick back to the team. He says they had the discussion last year, but decided against it because he does not fit Shanahan's offense. Instead, they'll stick with Beathard for now. 

The 49ers already have their quarterback of the future in Garoppolo so it's not as though anybody they bring in will be long for the team anyway. Willingly sticking with an inferior option because of concerns about system fit is something teams are occasionally willing to do, as we saw throughout last season. Kaepernick seems unlikely at this point to ever be given another chance by an NFL team, and will instead continue his work as a brand ambassador for Nike and charitable giving.