So what teams actually could need or use Kaepernick?
I say, the Jets, the Bills, the Baltimore Ravens, the Indianapolis Colts, the Jacksonville Jaguars, the New York Giants, the Dallas Cowboys, the Minnesota Vikings and the Detroit Lions.
With the Jets, we already know the answer. They want to lose. The Jags are easy to figure out too. They have a first round pick from 2014 invested in Blake Bortles and this is a contract year for him. They picked up his fifth-year option, but if the kid doesn’t prove he’s a legitimate NFL quarterback this season, they’re going to move on. The last thing you want to do in that situation is bring another rooster into the hen house to use the parlance of my people.
That leaves the Ravens, Colts, Giants, Cowboys, Vikings and Lions.
And it’s those five teams that are actively keeping Kaepernick out of the NFL. The Ravens might argue that they have a high end back up with Ryan Mallett, but then the rest of us could just point at them and laugh. The Cowboys and Giants have both made it clear, in so many words, that Kaepernick’s choice to protest police brutality and the oppression of minorities by kneeling during the national anthem is the primary reason they wouldn’t look at signing him.
Unless the Colts, Vikings and Lions all suddenly snap up RG3, Hill and Ponder to improve their back up situation, then it’s obvious they’re on the same “NeverKaepernick” side of the issue as the Cowboys and Giants obviously are.
So that settles it you say. Kaepernick isn’t on an NFL roster right now because of backlash from his kneeldown protest.
Not so fast.
Imagine if Cam Newton decided to kneeldown last year to protest the same things Kaepernick protested. And here’s the thing too, Newton had an off year in 2016. Because of concussions, because of a Super Bowl hangover, because of trying to do too much and save the season from going down the drain, Newton had an off year. If he had kneeled down during the anthem as protest, would the Panthers have cut him this offseason?
Of course not. The very idea is stupid. If they had set him free, the imaginary bended knee version of Newton would be the most highly sought after free agent since Peyton Manning. There would be a bidding war for his services across the league and all political spectrums. It would probably shock most of us the teams that would be in the mix. By my count, only about five wouldn’t be trying to coax him onto their roster with fabulous cash and prizes.
Newton gets criticized all the time for dumb shit. Dabbing on the sidelines. His Superman pose. There’s a cottage industry of making fun of the way he dresses postgame and, sometimes, he gets angry after a loss and doesn’t like to talk to the media much. Newton has taken shit for all of it, but, in the end, nobody that matters cares. Newton is untouchable and it wouldn’t matter what political stance he took.
The difference being that Newton is a star. A real one. It’s why Michael Bennett mentioned him by name while discussing Black Lives Matter and how athletes can make impactful statements. And that was before Kaepernick got caught sitting down during the anthem.
If Kaepernick was as good as Cam Newton, he would still be a 49er. There would be no job issue so you can see why guys like Albert Breer and Andy Benoit can make solid arguments that Kaepernick’s QB ability is the lone reason he’s not in the league.
They know there are plenty of teams that could sign Kaepernick in spite of any fan backlash. Teams like the Seahawks, the Rams, the Ravens, the Jets, the Eagles, the Bears and the Buccaneers could have all weathered any fan storm and, my guess is, the storm would be small and insignificant for those respective teams.
But none of them did. The Eagles liked Nick Foles better because he’s an objectively better QB than Kaepernick. The Seahawks picked Davis for the same reason and Pete Carroll has had his character assassinated ever since.
The Rams and Bears are working in rookies and second-year guys and the Jets are tanking the season to try to get the No. 1 pick in 2018. That just leaves the Ravens and here’s where we find the real mystery. Is Ryan Mallett better than Colin Kaepernick?
Mallett has been with the Ravens a year and a half and started two games. He went 1-1 and, in his victory, had a pretty stellar game against the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2015. He went 28-of-41 for 274 yards, one touchdown, was sacked just once and put up a QB rating of 95.0.
In Kaepernick’s lone victory last season over the Rams, he completed 28-of-37 passes for 266 yards, one touchdown, was sacked four times and had a QB rating of 101.9. He also rushed for a TD that turned out to be the game winner.
I would take Kaepernick over Mallett any day. John Harbaugh is Jim’s brother and nobody was a bigger public Kaep advocate before the 49ers fired him. Ozzie Newsome is the general manager and I find it hard to believe he wouldn’t make a move to better his team regardless of a public backlash. Frankly, the city of Baltimore itself would probably celebrate Kaepernick joining the team. Jim even praised his former quarterback’s courage in Time Magazine. John called the idea that Kaepernick was being kept out of the NFL because of his political stance “intellectually lazy.”
So why didn’t the Ravens bring in Kaepernick to kick his tires? That, I do not understand unless Jim advised his brother not to. We may never know the answer there.
The idea has been put forth that somehow the NFL (i.e. Roger Goodell) has put out the word that no team is to sign Kaepernick. That’s ridculous. The owners run this league and Goodell is their lap dog. Hell, teams sue or threaten to sue the NFL all the time to do what they want. There’s no pressure from Goodell on anything. Again, if you watch and follow the actual sport, you already know this.
There’s still plenty of offseason to go and Kaepernick’s lot can change quickly with a few key injuries. And those injuries always happen. Kaep’s phone could go off at any minute. If not, he should go to Canada and work on his game. The best thing he could do for his career is to improve so much as to make it so no NFL team could afford not to sign him. Regardless of what Donald Trump threatens from atop his toilet.
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