CURTIS HENRY
Sports Editor
At the time this is released it will be April 5, 2017, and I’m quite certain that former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick will remain unsigned. There’s a myriad of reasons that have been spelled out by just about every NFL pundit and personality regarding his talent, his asking price and his being an organizational distraction.
Each and every one of these lines of rationale is garbage.
Kaepernick’s talent has been widely attributed to his ongoing free agency. Cleveland Browns offensive tackle Joe Thomas took to Twitter to explain his thoughts on Kaepernick last week.
“Teams don’t currently view him as a starting QB,” Thomas wrote. “NFL teams accept ZERO distractions from their backup QBs.”
Oh, Joe. If only either of these things actually held up to any account of recent NFL history.
The claim that Kaepernick isn’t currently of starting quality in the NFL is a farce. Of course he isn’t among the highest tier of starting quarterbacks, but there’s plenty of comparisons available to justify Kaepernick starting on the team with the worst situation.
Let’s have a quick overview of Kaepernick’s 2016 campaign. His 16:4 touchdown-to-interception ration was among the best in the league. Of quarterbacks who played in at least 12 games, only Aaron Rodgers, Matt Ryan, Tom Brady, Derek Carr, Dak Prescott and Sam Bradford had a TD-INT ratio of 4:1 or better.
Kaepernick’s 90.7 passer rating was good for 17th in the league and was notably ahead of quarterbacks like Tyrod Taylor, Phil Rivers, Jameis Winston, Eli Manning and Cam Newton.
New Cleveland Browns quarterback Brock Osweiler only had a passer rating of 72.2, and he is slated to earn a guaranteed $16 million this season. The New York Jets currently roster an underwhelming quarterback trio of Josh McCown, Bryce Petty and Christian Hackenberg. The Houston Texans are stuck in quarterback purgatory unless Tony Romo is cut. The Los Angeles Rams have a young quarterback prospect in Jared Goff who failed to show promise in his rookie campaign, and Kaepernick’s former team, San Francisco, currently only rosters Matt Barkley and Brian Hoyer. These are five destinations that would instantly benefit from rostering Kaepernick.
The raw numbers are there for Kaepernick, and it’s common knowledge that the talent on the 49ers’ roster was nothing short of abysmal last season. A 2-14 record and bottom-of-the-barrel rankings in almost every statistical category evidenced that.
His asking price is a whole different topic, but it does not enhance any argument against rostering Kaepernick. Rumors of his desire to make between $9 and $10 million per year have been circulating throughout the offseason. While that number is astounding to some, it’s fair market value for a quarterback of Kaepernick’s caliber.
The Chicago Bears recently signed Mike Glennon to be their starter after years of being a backup in Tampa Bay. Glennon’s contract is for an average of $15 million annually over the next three seasons, despite only appearing in 19 games over the past four seasons. He hasn’t started a game since 2014, but that didn’t stop the Bears from shelling out to make him their starter for the foreseeable future.
Ryan Fitzpatrick made $12 million to throw five more interceptions than touchdowns in 2016 and got benched for career underachiever Geno Smith along the way. Tony Romo’s current contract has him averaging $23 million over the next couple of seasons to sit the bench unless Dallas releases him, and Tyrod Taylor — perhaps the most comparable to Kaepernick in play style and statistics — will make $10 million this year and $18 million next.
It’s obvious to see that quarterbacks in differing capacities in the NFL will make well over Kaepernick’s asking price to play a similar, if not lesser, role for their respective teams. The asking price should not be a monstrous factor for someone who is as capable at the position as Kaepernick. Although now a distant memory, Kaepernick has accomplished two things that none of the aforementioned quarterbacks — Glennon, Fitzpatrick, Romo and Taylor — have ever done; he has won multiple playoff games and been to the Super Bowl.
The third and final argument that has been repeatedly presented against Kaepernick is that he’s an organizational distraction. In particular, the argument is that backup quarterbacks and fringe-starters aren’t welcome in the NFL. This is another false narrative.
Allow me to introduce you to Michael Vick. You know, the guy who took two seasons off to serve time in federal prison due to dogfighting charges. You know, the guy who was signed as a backup and nothing more; the guy who was given a second chance despite being the biggest possible distraction a team could ever wish to take on.
Yeah, that guy.
Allow me to introduce you to Geno Smith. You know, the former draft bust who had a hostile enough relationship with one of his Jets teammates to get punched in the face during a locker room scuffle in 2015. The incident resulted in Smith’s inability to play for roughly two months as he recovered from a broken jaw. Even a guy like Greg Hardy was given a chance by Dallas two years ago, despite domestic abuse allegations and constant media attention.
The issue here isn’t Kaepernick’s ability as a quarterback nor is it his asking price. The issue isn’t that he’s a distraction or that backups can’t be distractions and hold a job.
The reason for Colin Kaepernick remaining unemployed is that NFL owners don’t like the fact that Kaepernick has pointed out that racial oppression exists in this country. The undying irony of Kaepernick’s ongoing free agency is that it only serves as further evidence of his own claims that racism is still an issue in 2017.