Colin Kaepernick remains without a team since the end of last season. Many are attributing this to his anthem kneeling that he did during his last year with the 49ers. Others are attributing this to the fact that he can no longer be a great NFL quarterback. There are debates on this issue and there’s been a national conversation about it since he first did it.
Last weekend, Kaepernick decided to take action against the NFL, filing a collusion grievance against the NFL, believing that all 32 NFL owners are colluding to keep him out of the league. And now we just learned that the collusion case against the NFL will move forward and that there could be a release of electronic records and phone records, specifically from teams that showed interest in signing him. The two teams that jump to mind immediately are the Seattle Seahawks and the Baltimore Ravens.
Kaepernick’s Last Chance?
For Colin Kaepernick, it may be his last chance to get back into the NFL and if collusion is found to be there, he’ll most likely be back on an NFL team, most likely with one that has a dire quarterback situation.
Many players around the league, especially Seahawks defensive lineman Michael Bennett, are insisting that Colin Kaepernick get back into the league in order for talks with the NFL to move forward, but so far no other team has called upon them.
Many in social media are speculating that the Broncos could sign him this week, considering their quarterback situation.
But don’t hold your breath. It could take a while before this grievance claim proves to be either true or false, but many of the NFL players are hoping that the NFL loses in this case and hoping that Kaepernick ends up on a team.
Non-Signings May Not Be About Protests
I have been probably one of the few people that have said that his not being in the league is not about his anthem protests. We can immediately go to that because of the recent news surrounding Trump’s attacks on the NFL for the anthem protests, especially since I believed at that time that the NFL should’ve put Colin Kaepernick on a team in order for the NFL to say that they’re against Trump.
I’ve always said this about Colin Kaepernick, and Bills running back LeSean McCoy said it publicly as well: He’s just not a great quarterback anymore and nobody will bring him on not only with that but the fact that he’s not good enough to overcome all of what’s going on with the anthem protests, which is unfortunate.
In fact, when I was in Chicago back in August, I was talking to a guy who was a professor at a local university and I asked him about this Kaepernick issue and when I brought up that it’s possible he could be out of the league because it’s not a great quarterback anymore, he told me to get over the issue of being a great quarterback and told me that it’s all about the anthem protests and not about his football ability.
Kaepernick seems to be going the same way that Robert Griffin III went: He may be done as a starting quarterback. Robert Griffin III used to be a great quarterback, but he was offset by both injuries and the fact that people knew over time his “running quarterback” montre would hurt him tremendously and that’s why he’s no longer prominent in the NFL.
Michael Vick was a running quarterback that didn’t have a long career after joining the Eagles. Teams were able to gameplan for his pocket presence, or lack thereof. Kaepernick is heading that same route.
What Now For Kaepernick?
Whether or not the case against the NFL wins, Kaepernick is done as an NFL quarterback, at least a starting quarterback in this league. The way he plays is no longer viable in the NFL. Every NFL quarterback that is great like Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers throw from the pocket a good portion of the time. They don’t move around, they let their teammates do that. If Colin Kaepernick comes back, he’ll have a be a more passing quarterback than running quarterback, and if he can’t adapt to that, that’s not a good thing for him and the team he gets signed to will cut him just like that.
I feel bad that Kaepernick is going through all this mess and drama and I think he could end up with an NFL team. But the fact that he’s on a team is not directly attributed to his anthem protests. It’s most likely due to the fact that he’s no longer the great quarterback we thought he could be. I hope others see that side of the issue too, but Trump and others are unfortunately attacking the NFL on this issue and more people will probably connect his not being in the league to the anthem protests.
Probably Slim Chance
The case is the only chance he has at this point to get back into the league. If he loses it, he’ll have slim to no chance. He was a great quarterback at that time and he got the 49ers to the Super Bowl, but we’re in the present now and things have changed since then and now he may no longer be the great quarterback he once was. The NFL is all about having great quarterbacks and Colin Kaepernick may not fit into that mold anymore and the way he played last year, it’s more likely teams are not signing him because of that atrocious year and not because of the anthem protests.