The Colin Kaepernick offseason sage hit a high mark last week when reports surfaced that the Broncos, Browns, and to a lesser extent, the Jets emerged as front runners looking to land the San Francisco signal caller.
The Jets weren’t really a threat to get Kap, let alone RG3, those stories are more about calling Ryan Fitzpatrick’s bluff, however the Broncos and Browns are a real story, and both are interesting landing points.
A move to Denver makes the most sense for Kaepernick as it puts him in a similar situation as to the one he was in with the 49ers from 2012 to 2013; in essence- a good offense and a great defense. A move to Cleveland has more to do with Kap being comfortable with head coach Hue Jackson, who wanted to draft him back in 2011 when he was with the Raiders.
The 49ers are looking at return of either a 2nd or 3rd round pick for Kap, and there in lies the problem.
For Denver, a team that has been gutted this offseason, every pick, especially their early round picks, matter. Yes they traded for Mark Sanchez (a conditional 7th round pick), but I believe the ultimate goal for the Broncos had always been to sign a veteran signal caller to a short term deal, while drafting a QB in the early rounds to develop and eventually take over, hence the three year offer to Brock Osweiler. We tweeted about this hours before he ended up signing a 4-year deal with Houston.
Denver needs to show commitment to keep Brock Osweiler, a 3-year deal doesn't work #Broncos #NFLFreeAgency
— GuruQB (@GuruQB) March 9, 2016
With Osweiler gone, suddenly Colin Kaepernick was in the picture, which again, we wrote about back in November. However, Denver losing as many as seven key players from last season could cause them to hold onto their draft picks, specially their 2nd and 3rd round picks.
For Cleveland, everyone had pretty much agreed that Carson Wentz was going to be the next QB for the Browns, however Kaepernick’s availability suddenly creates an interesting scenario. Cleveland, which is willing to part with a 3rd round pick, could make the trade (assuming Kap’s contract isn’t a problem), and still use their first and second rounders, one on defense (Joey Bosa from Ohio State), and one on offense (wide receiver).
That’s a win-win for Cleveland, of course, it all depends on if the 49ers actually want to part way with Kaepernick.
The end question is, will he, or won’t he be traded? And the answer isn’t all that simple. It’s difficult to see the 49ers eating Colin Kaepernick’s 2016 contract when he doesn’t want to be there, meaning they could end up paying him not to play. And if your Kap, sitting out a season healthy while getting paid a boat load of money might be nice (I’ll volunteer for that!), however he’d also be getting a year older and less attractive in the open market in 2017.
Something has to give, but who is willing to budge first, the 49ers, or Colin Kaepernick’s suitors?
