Another day, another Colin Kaepernick update. And there might be some news here.
As the reasons why he remains unsigned are debated, it might be time to focus on one of the handful of teams for which Kaepernick makes some sense — the Seattle Seahawks. And the good news for him is that the Seahawks don’t appear to have ruled him out as an option.
Yes, the Seahawks are set with Russell Wilson as their starter. But two of the other three quarterbacks on the roster — Jake Heaps and Skyler Howard — are completely unproven, and the third, backup Trevone Boykin, has been arrested twice this offseason. Granted, we’re talking about Boykin being charged with two misdemeanors (marijuana possession and public intoxication), followed by a probation violation stemming from the prior incident. But Boykin hasn’t exactly proven completely reliable, either.
Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll was asked during an appearance on 710 ESPN Seattle’s “Brock and Salk” show (via ESPN.com) whether the team was considering adding any competition for Wilson’s backup spot, and Carroll was asked specifically about Kaepernick and Robert Griffin III, neither of whom have a team currently. Carroll would not rule them out, which constitutes as news these days.
“We’re looking at everybody. We really are,” Carroll said. “We’ve been tracking everything that’s going on, and we’ve got cap and roster issues and stuff like that that we’re still trying to manage properly. But quite frankly, yes, we are looking at all those guys.”
Carroll didn’t mention either by name, which can be an old coach’s trick for dismissing a question. But if the Seahawks had no interest in either, he easily could say it wasn’t something they were considering. He’s also right about the team’s salary cap issues, as the Seahawks currently would have a little more than $2 million in space once all their draft picks are signed. That’s not likely going to get it done if the Seahawks try to sign Kaepernick, for instance, on a one- or two-year deal.
But if there’s a place where he might be more accepted than in other spots, it might be Seattle — as MMQB’s Peter King wrote Monday. Not only is it a progressive city, a Seahawks team that has welcome a lot of players that other teams might not consider touching and good familiarity with Kaepernick spending his entire career in the division with the San Francisco 49ers, but it also could be a decent football fit, even if Kaepernick’s inaccuracy isn’t ideal for coordinator Darrell Bevell’s offense.
Still, at this point it’s surprising — no matter your view on his national anthem protests last season — that a quarterback of Kaepernick’s experience and talent is still available in the prime of his career. This is still a bottom-line, talent-based league where quarterbacks are in short supply. He might not be good enough right now for a team to sign with the expectation of being a starter, but Kaepernick is more gifted than many teams’ No. 2 options — including Boykin — around the league. The question then would be what Kaepernick is asking for, contract-wise?
It’s unclear if the Seahawks are the natural landing spot for Kaepernick. But at this point, it can’t be ruled out either. The coach confirmed that.
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