Colin Kaepernick Reportedly Willing to Sign as Backup QB

After almost three years away from the sport, former San Francisco 49ers quarterback, Colin Kaepernick is reportedly ready to sign up as a backup QB, according to the Wisconsin native’s longtime girlfriend, per ESPN sources. Not only has been Kaepernick been training early every day of the week, but he is reportedly comfortable with signing onto a team as a reserve.

As week three in the NFL draws near, there will be five teams with starting quarterbacks that were not the top options during training camp or the preseason. The Indianapolis Colts with Jacoby Brissett after Andrew Luck’s retirement; the Pittsburgh Steelers and Mason Rudolph; the New York Jets are relying on a third-string option in Luke Falk; the New Orleans Saints will be starting Teddy Bridgewater; the Jacksonville Jaguars are keeping rookie Gardner Minshew under center; and, while the New York Giants also classified, their decision to start rookie Daniel Jones was based on performance issues.

With so many starters gone for weeks or the season, now is the perfect time to get Kaepernick on a roster. In addition to being healthy and fit, he has considerable starting experience in the regular season, as well as the playoffs. However, this pursuit is not proceeding as planned. Kaepernick’s agent has been reaching out to teams in need of a quarterback, but according to ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith of First Take, he is not making any headway.

“I am being told that he has contacted – Colin Kaepernick’s agent and others – have contacted the Pittsburgh Steelers,” Smith said. “Essentially, they’re not interested. They’ve contacted the Jets, no word on them yet. They’ve contacted the Saints. They didn’t get their phone calls returned.”

This lack of communication was partially expected considering that Kaepernick has allegedly been blackballed by the league, especially considering that the Saints, Jets, and Steelers all added other quarterbacks this week. J.T. Barrett joined the New Orleans practice squad, David Fales reportedly joined the Jets, and Paxton Lynch signed with the Steelers practice squad. It appears that Kaepernick’s opportunities are dwindling despite these other players struggling to make an impact in previous stops.

One reason for the lack of workouts could be that Kaepernick was reportedly in pursuit of only a starting job and would not accept anything less. There is even a prevailing belief that he has turned down offers from the Denver Broncos, the Seattle Seahawks, and possibly two other teams. However, Kaepernick’s girlfriend, Nessa Diab, set the record straight for Stephen A. Smith.

“One of the things that Nessa Diab told me last week when she and I met, she said, ‘Colin Kaepernick trains five days a week, every day, all five days, at 5 a.m.,’” Smith said on First Take. “‘Working out a minimum of three hours a day, if not longer. He’s ready to go. He wants to be back in the NFL and it doesn’t have to be as a starting quarterback. It could be as a backup quarterback.’”

Additionally, Diab also clarified that Kaepernick has not received a single job offer from the aforementioned teams. She told Smith that this was completely false and that the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback has not reached any agreement with the league that prevents him from pursuing a job. In fact, Diab says that Kaepernick would love a phone call and that he is ready to go.

At this point, a job opportunity does not appear to be as likely for Kaepernick, but this could change in the coming days or weeks now that he is willing to take a backup job. This may possibly lower the barrier of entry for general managers and coaches around the league. And with the number of injuries in recent weeks, there is no reason to believe that he would not see some snaps at some point in the season.