Putting it here because sports, but really a GQ. Please refrain from political discussion.
It is completely unprecedented for a QB of Kaepernick’s quality to go unsigned in free agency, so it is tempting to assume he has been blackballed for his political statements. But it’s also pretty much unprecedented for a QB of that quality to even reach free agency. I wonder if he might be holding out for the right job, and be turning down lesser offers?
For example, my Chicago Bears have two veteran QBs on the roster who are far, far worse than Kaepernick. But they also have Mitch Trubisky, the second pick in the draft, who they clearly view as their QB of the next decade. Would a guy who started the Super Bowl a few years ago really want a job which boils down to “lead a crappy team for at most one season until the kid is ready, then grab some bench?”.
Have Kaepernick or his agents made any public statements indicating how good an opportunity would have to be for him to take it?
This is simply not true. In Kaepernick’s last season with the Niners, he had a QBR of 49.2, the 23rd worst rating of NFL QB’s that season. He was the only starting NFL QB with a negative passing grade in that QBR (-0.3, the next lowest was Case Keenum (a backup, now starter because of injury) with 10.2). He led his team to a 1-10 record, and didn’t even complete 60% of his passes.
He can be an average NFL QB if they run an offense tailored to his skills (lots of running, quick reads, and with a solid running game and defense to help him out), but there aren’t many teams running those kinds of offenses for very long in the NFL.
I have no doubt that his political actions have negatively affected his perception and the willingness of teams to sign him. He’s also a scapegoat for idiotic people, and is treated unfairly in the press and likely in the NFL. I also think that, had there not been an issue with his politics or kneeling, he’d be on a roster as maybe a backup. But no team anymore wants to start a QB like Kaepernick, mostly because for him to succeed, he needs an offense tailored to his game and an amazing defense like he had early in his career with the Niners.
I do think he’s been treated unfairly, but I don’t think we should pretend he’s some kind of amazing talent or that it’s unprecedented that he somehow isn’t playing football in the NFL. RGIII and Johnny Manziel, other comparable QB’s are unsigned also.
Kap doesn’t have the arm strength/accuracy to be a good NFL QB. He would need a special option offense built around him and a dominating defense because he won’t put many points on the board.
The Seahawks gave him a tryout (they believe in “you break it, you buy it”, hence Walsh is their kicker) and an athletic QB capable of making plays with his feet is a good fit for them. But I think it just came down to price and as is the case lately they’ve been having to make tough salary cap decisions (another reason why Walsh is around instead of the more expensive Hauschka). Austin Davis, the current backup, was cheaper.
So price is a factor. (I believe RGIII was also considered briefly by the Hawks at some point, another “you break it you buy it” since he got his career-changing injury against them.)
I think RGIII and Kaepernick are very comparable. They were once starters and were considered very good, and were successful, but just don’t have it anymore.
I think if somebody thought he could help their football team, he’d have a job. He still may land somewhere before the season ends. Injuries happen all the time.
His arm strength is incredible, it’s just that he guns it on every throw, no touch. The biggest problem is his limited willingness and ability to read a defense. It’s not quite as bad as his reputation, but still bad.
But he has starting experience and playoff experience. He could result fit as a backup for a playoff team without an obvious development QB. If Russell Wilson goes down this season, I could see Seattle taking a second look.
And yet the Buffalo Bills signed a backup QB who has a career passing completion rate of 57.9%, who is a year older than Kaepernick, and who hasn’t actually even attempted a pass in a live game since 2011.
I’m making no specific brief for where Kaepernick might or might not fit in, and i’m certainly not arguing that he’s a great QB. But do you really think he’s a worse option than Joe Webb, or some of the other backups currently warming the bench in the NFL?
Unless he has just saved a kid from a burning building, you don’t want your backup quarterback holding a press conference. And, Joe Webb can also play receiver and special teams!
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If EJ Manuel falls flat on his face, I hope the Raiders sign Kaepernick as a stop-gap until Carr returns from injury. Kap isn’t a great option long-term but he was a middle-of-the-pack QB last season for the 49ers (who had no team around him) and could probably do well by providing a different style for teams to defend against short-term. And I don’t think the Raiders fanbase would care about Kap’s off-the-field image too much.
I think RGIII had the potential to be much better even great but with his style of play it was pretty much inevitable that he wasn’t going to last.
Not going to happen. His girlfriend blew any chance of getting picked up on a team. I would have put money on him getting picked up by a team with a QB injury until I heard how his girlfriend blew it for him with the Ravens.
I don’t know American Football, but been following the kneeling controversy. Other sports don’t have such an extremely central position like Quarter Back, however, an analogy could be drawn with a soccer playmaker who led his team to a World Cup final (or a Champions League final) a few years ago and is now unable to find a side. It would not be surprising to see that player lose his position and then place in the team if there is a major drop in quality of output, however to not get a new team at all?
Looking at Kaepernick, the Super Bowl he reached was a close game and he came within a game of returning the following year if I understood the WIki article on the 2013-2014 playoffs correctly (I think his team lost to the eventual winner).
Is his fall so great that no team would take a chance on him? Is there a precedent for something like this in American football, without injury or major disciplinry issues?
Not worse. But not significantly better either. Hell, RGIII, the #2 draft pick with a strong arm and good wheels isn’t on a roster in the NFL either for much the same reason Kaepernick isn’t. They both not very good at running an actual NFL offense. Guys with significantly less talent, say like a Case Keenum or even a Jacoby Brisset, are still in the NFL because they can run the offense that the OC for the team wants. Which is what you want in a backup QB. No team wants a backup QB for whom they’d have to completely change their offense for it to work for that QB. It could just be OC hubris, but teams aren’t interested in having a backup QB who simply isn’t good at running their offense. That, more than politics, is why Kaepernick isn’t on an NFL roster. Although I agree that the politics of the matter certainly doesn’t help.
I completely agree. If he weren’t involved in a controversy that has a lot of NFL fans upset, he’d be a backup on somebody’s team right now. His skills aren’t well-suited for running a traditional NFL offense, and so, he’s not any more valuable than other backup QBs who might be less talented overall, but who are better suited for their teams’ offenses.
But, much like Ray Rice (though for very different reasons), teams haven’t been willing to sign a player whose very presence on a roster is going to be a PR nightmare.
For what it’s worth, I think that story was crap. Ray Lewis isn’t a trustworthy source. A lot of players have outspoken wives, girlfriends or relatives. Brent Grimes didn’t have any trouble finding a new job after his wife Miko said some crazy stuff.