"Nobody’s gonna sign him" - NFL analyst reveals lack of excitement around league to sign Colin Kaepernick
It's stunning to believe Colin Kaepernick has been out of the NFL for five consecutive seasons. Kaepernick attempted to raise awareness about racial injustice by kneeling during the National Anthem in 2016. Since then, he's never received as much as a phone call from an NFL team.
Colin Kaepernick is itching for a comeback, Adam Schefter reported Thursday. Schefter reported that Kaepernick is in the best shape of his life and ready to go. Still, the league doesn't sound ready to welcome him back amongst its ranks, at least, not according to Kimberly Martin.
Colin Kaepernick is still working out and is said to be, in the words of one source, “in the best shape of his life. He wants to play. He’s ready play. He would be a great fit for teams with QB vacancies to fill who want to win a Super Bowl.” twitter.com/kaepernick7/st…
Martin appeared on First Take on Friday, where she revealed the inside scoop from people she's spoken with around the league. The general vibe around the NFL was Colin Kaepernick won't be re-signed anytime soon. She said,
“Unfortunately for Kaepernick, I was checking in with people yesterday. ‘Did you see the workout video? What do you think about his chances?’ And the responses I was getting? Although not shocking, I mean, people are like, ‘Okay, he worked out. You can keep tweeting workout videos, you know. Nobody's going to sign him.’
Because as Damien is saying, to be out of the game so long, again, no fault of his own, but to be out of the game so long and then you know, you use a roster spot for somebody that now has to get back. The first thing someone said to me was like, ‘the game is different.’
Even though we're seeing these dual-threat quarterbacks. We're seeing, we're praising guys like Justin Herbert, absolutely Lamar Jackson. But even Joe Burrow and Josh Allen for being you know, elusive and explosive and athletic. We're crediting them. We're giving them praise for that. You know, Kaepernick was that, you know, in his prime. The thing that league execs tell me is 'the game is changing."
Ultimately, the fact that five years have passed Colin Kaepernick by could be the final nail in his NFL career's coffin. Kaepernick was one of the game's best dual-threat quarterbacks with the San Fransisco 49ers.
However, the league has changed so much, and Kaepernick is now 34 years old. It's fair to question if he can keep up with the likes of Lamar Jackson and Russell Wilson.
Despite that, Martin brings up the legitimate point that Tim Tebow got a second shot in the NFL after a decade away. So why can't Colin Kaepernick? She said,
"For you to take on Kaepernick. I was with the Jets when they traded for Tim Tebow. That was my first year on the Jets beat. And it's more than just the player. It is everything that comes with the player that you have to contend with. Fans, the reaction, just that you know, in New York, we call it the media circus following TebowMania around. There will be an element of that following Kaepernick to a team. But you can't tell me that, if Tim Tebow got all that, all those chances, all those chances to try. You want to do baseball? Cool. You want to try tight end? Cool. Like, all those chances and Colin Kaepernick can't get the same opportunities? I think it is unfair. But I just don't see, there just isn't that same level of excitement around in the league for wanting to bring him in.”
Analysts are crying out for Colin Kaepernick to receive a shot at an NFL comeback
Martin isn't alone in wanting to see Colin Kaepernick receive the fair shot in the NFL he deserves. In the same conversation with Martin, former Super Bowl champion Damien Woody took her side.
Woody said there aren't 64 quarterbacks in the NFL who are better and more equipped to play quarterback than Kaepernick. He cited Carson Wentz going to the Washington Commanders as an example of desperation moves at quarterback, saying,
“Listen, I think Kimberly brings up a good point. You know, should Colin Kaepernick get a shot? Absolutely. I mean, you look at the lack of depth at the quarterback position as it relates to the National Football League. We're seeing all these transactions from teams just trying to in somehow, in some fashion, trying to get a quarterback. We've seen, you know, Carson Wentz go from team to team to team, and in a matter of a couple of years, all because there's just not enough quarterbacks in the National Football League. And you know, the situation with Colin Kaepernick. Yes, I understand Colin Kaepernick hasn’t played the game since 2016. But I'm still under the impression that there's no one that can tell me, as of right now, that there's 64 quarterbacks in the National Football League right now {better} than Colin Kaepernick. There's just not. There's not."
A perfect example of NFL teams not feeling confident in their signal-callers was the New York Giants running a quarterback sneak on third down and long in 2021. Woody brought that up as a justification for Kaepernick receiving, at least, an opportunity to try out. He said,
"Molly, we saw a situation with your own New York football Giants last year when they played the Washington Commanders. Jake Fromm was the quarterback at the time with the New York football Giants. Did a quarterback sneak from their own endzone rather than put the ball in the quarterback’s hand? Think about that. They didn't have enough faith in their quarterback to go out there and make a play. They ran a quarterback sneak from their own endzone rather than put faith in their quarterback. If that doesn't tell you that there's a lack of quarterbacks in the National Football League? I don't know what else to tell you.”
The #Giants just ran a QB sneak on 3rd-and-9 in the second quarter of Week 18.
What the heck is going on
https://t.co/CvmmqEgvxX
Kaepernick has conducted workouts and tweeted videos showcasing he's still in shape.
But Martin's report is disappointing and a potential sign that enough time has passed by that owners will use that as reasoning for not calling him rather than dealing with the public relations hit.