In the 2014 offseason, quarterback Colin Kaepernick had been coming off back-to-back seasons in which he led the 49ers to the postseason. That also included a trip to Super Bowl XLVII when they 49ers lost to the Ravens.
It’s fair to see why the 49ers saw Kaepernick as their quarterback of the future and decided to ink him to a six-year contract extension worth up to $126MM in total, $54MM in potential guarantees and $13MM in full guarantees.
The now-30-year-old would not lead the 49ers to the postseason again following the extension and started all 16 regular season games just once before opting out of his contract following the 2016 season. The 49ers had taken Kaepernick in the second round of the 2011 draft out of Nevada.
Kaepernick has yet to suit up with an NFL team since appearing in 12 games and starting 11 with the 49ers in 2016. After Jim Tomsula took over for Jim Harbaugh as the 49ers’ head coach in 2015, Kaepernick was benched eight games into the season in favor of Blaine Gabbert.
Since his release and subsequent free agency, Kaepernick has filed a grievance against the NFL, alleging that owners from around the league colluded to keep him unsigned. The reported collusion stems from his protest of social inequalities in the United States, which included kneeling for the national anthem.
Between the 2012 and ’13 seasons, Kaepernick threw for 21 touchdowns and rushed for nine touchdowns while throwing just 11 interceptions. The team also went 17-6 in the regular season with him as a starter. From 2014-16, Kaepernick was unable to lead the team to a record better than 8-8, including 10 interceptions in 2014 alone.
The 49ers have appeared to find another “quarterback of the future” after signing Jimmy Garoppolo to a five-year deal worth up to $137.5MM deal, which was the largest annual salary in NFL history at the time. The $90MM guaranteed in the first three years of his deal still stands as an NFL record.
No one cares about A washed qb move on
You misspelled “greatest Super Bowl winning QB”.
/sarcasm
He’s a human peace of diarrhea
*piece
You’re not a doctor. Diarrhea is straight up liquid. As in, Yournotascout can’t spell and has a brain filled with diarrhea.
Yawn.
Why are they still writing about this bum. Just go AWAY
He’s not a thing! Stop trying to make him a thing!
16:4 TD to INT ratio in 2016, folks, with the third best passer rating (90.7, and third over 90) of his career. Also had the highest average yards per run of his career, 6.8 ypa.
Yeah, washed up, you bunch of super-patriotic snowflakes.
You hire him then .
If I owned the Panthers or Seahawks, Cowboys or Bengals, Vikings or Texans, Titans or Rams, in a New York minute.
Good then let the Jets sign him!
Why? The Jets seem to be sitting on a pretty sweet QB situation at the moment and don’t need Kaepernick. Other teams could use him, though.
I’m not saying he should be signed as a political statement by a team that couldn’t use him. I didn’t have a problem with the Dolphins picking Cutler over Kaepernick last year because Adam Gase had a history with Cutler, a pretty good one, so it made sense for him to sign the guy he knew and had had some success with.
I just don’t want a guy blacklisted for his political views, whether I support those views (this country has a problem with police brutality, specifically against people of color) or not (opposition to abortion rights – Mark Bavaro, Matt Birk – or opposition to even having a players’ union – Bob Kuechenberg).
I just want my football without politics and signing this guy would turn me off the product.
Hey man. Trump has already inserted himself into this League’s business. That’s all because of politics. So maybe you’re mad at the wrong fella? Which would be funny because then you’d be mad at a rich white person but you’re probably incapable of doing something that drastic.
Hey, I just want my football talk free of racist dog whistles. Too much to ask?
Is that you Al Sharpton
You Kremlin trolls aren’t very original.
That ship sailed a long time ago, Ironman, between the strikes and the lockouts, the Pentagon paying the league to have the players on the field for the anthem (I had no idea), or various players skipping White House visits because of their differences with the President of the moment. My suggestion to you is give Kaep the finger from your chair and just watch the game anyway, and say a prayer for him if he gets hurt, just like you would for any player.
He also threw for 4 yards against the Bears.
I mean, if you want to pull stats out of the air…
Games in which Kap threw for more than 200 yards in 2016:
Against Saints: 398, 2 TD: 1 INT
Patriots: 206, 2 TD, 0 INT, 5 sacks 2 FUM
Miami: 296, 3 TD, 1 INT, 2 sacks.
Rams: 266, 2:1, 4 sacks.
Seahawks: 215, 1:0, 5 sacks, 2 fumbles.
5 games: 1381, 9:3, 16 sacks
Still a bum
Agreed. The rest of his games were below 200yrds passing.
White mans holding him down, he has to find something to complain about. Tired of hearing about this guy, its old news and no one really cares about him anymore.
If the guy really wanted to play , he would be.
Another amazing comment from the most ignorant fan base in the world. When the Kremlin comes a-callin’, their trolls aren’t going to win the day with wit.
Ah yes, Hilary Clinton, the most establishment politician in the country, loses an election in an anti-establishment year and its the Russians’ fault. Please.
Let’s see…. Russian trolls are great at dividing people. So if a comment on a football blog has nothing to do with the subject matter other than bashing it, then that would be an act of division. Hence, the accusation.
Not sure where Hillary Clinton shows up in my comment, but I can safely say that your accusation just increases the scope that you are, yourself, a Russian troll.
Kaepernick is a better quarterback than you give him credit. You are mad that black people kneel during the National Anthem. Fun times on the Internet. Yay!
Hey douchebag! If you don’t like it in this great country , buy a one-way ticket back to whatever sandbox you came from !
*Grabs popcorn
*Scrolls down to comments section
I’m just here for the comments too.
Here is what is missing: anyone who believes they are bigger than the team becomes a cancer, they erode the locker room, the bonds the very trust needed in a team sport.
Pure athleticism does not cancel out poor chemistry and lack of trust. It is a business, Kap made his choice, the owner of the business made his!
Finally somebody with some common sense