Of all the words and phrases never associated with San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, “smart” is right at the top of the list. It’s No. 1 directly over “accurate,” “good pass read,” “comfortable,” “leader” and, of course, “franchise quarterback.”
Kaepernick is exactly the same quarterback he’s always been. A run-first, inaccurate passer with no knowledge of the play book or play progression and certainly no ability to look downfield for a third of fourth receiving option. He’s an athlete with a great arm and now that NFL defenses know how to keep him in the pocket, everything he could do to not look like a complete disaster at the position is gone.
But he does have one advocate still with the 49ers and it’s the guy they just hired as their new head coach, Chip Kelly. Kelly likes Kaepernick and thinks he can use him in his offense, the offense that has sputtered and failed with superior talent over the last two seasons in Philadelphia. Kelly, still convinced his gimmicky option-read offense can work in the NFL, sees Kaepernick as the perfect guy that can run it. He’s the only coach in the NFL right now that has any faith in the fifth-year stooge out of Nevada. So, of course, Kaepernick is trying to ruin that completely.
Right before the Super Bowl Kaepernick’s people let it slip that he wants out of San Francisco. The New York Daily News reported that Kaepernick has asked to be released or traded, which is easier said than done for the team that stupidly signed him to a long-term deal in 2014. Kaepernick is due to make $11.9 million this season and cutting him would come with a cap hit of nearly $7.4 million. There’s no reason to do it.
Kaepernick, who I’m sure doesn’t understand numbers or what they mean, would like to play for another team, specifically the New York Jets. There’s just one problem with that. The Jets, to a man, don’t want Kaepernick on their team. Not a single Jets player or member of the personnel is an advocate of such a move, even in private.
Bottom line with Kaepernick – jets have not and are not interested. Colin has wanted out for quite some time and this impending divorce…
— Jason La Canfora (@JasonLaCanfora) February 4, 2016
Jets Pro Bowl wide receiver Brandon Marshall has even stated publicly he doesn’t want Kaepernick on the team, saying to ESPN, specifically, “I don’t want Kaepernick.” The Jets want Ryan Fitzpatrick back and they better be looking at a quarterback in this draft. Kaepernick is dreaming if he thinks he’s going to walk, albeit athletically, onto a potential playoff team.
@dakid97 Kap isn't even on their radar. Yes, hopeful of getting Fitz deal done
— Jason La Canfora (@JasonLaCanfora) February 4, 2016
The fact is, if Kaepernick has any chance of putting together an NFL career it’s with Kelly. Chip reportedly wanted to trade for Kaepernick if he’d been hired by another team so there are things that Kelly sees in Colin’s skillset that he likes. It’s pretty much exactly why the 49ers hired him in the first place.
“I’ve always had a very, very high opinion of Kap,” 49ers owner Jed York said when he hired Kelly. “Kap’s a great kid, he’s done a lot of great things ofr us. And again, this is a fresh start for everybody.”
A fresh start that Kaepernick, in all his wisdom, doesn’t seem interested in making. Last offseason Kaepernick worked with former St. Louis Rams and Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner to improve his quarterback play and, needless to say, it didn’t show up on the field. Kelly, as of today, is the only guy in the league that even wants him in a jersey.
“I think you have to realize with guys like Colin, Robert Griffin III and Johnny Manziel is the way they were asked to play before they got to the NFL was just ‘be an athlete, see what you see and then create,'” Warner said back in January. “So I think a transition like this to a Chip Kelly is going to ask Colin to do a lot more of that while he also learns how to play the position better. That to me is what it’s all about.”
The truth is, none of it is going to work. Kaepernick can’t play quarterback in the NFL and Kelly can’t coach in the NFL, so this is a match made in the back-corner stall of an interstate rest area men’s room. There’s little chance it won’t be a dumpster fire, but it’s Kaepernick’s dumpster fire and he should accept that. No one else is even handing him a match.
