Saturday afternoon, former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick will be taking part in a private workout for NFL teams in pursuit of another opportunity in the league. For many, the details surrounding the session seem “shady” and make it appear that the league isn’t actually trying to help the QB achieve his goals. However, the NFL wants to clarify that this is by no means a PR stunt.
Tuesday afternoon, Steve Wyche of NFL Media answered some of the questions surrounding Kaepernick’s workout in Atlanta. He touched on the timing of the workout and why the league scheduled the session for Saturday instead of the traditional Sunday. Additionally, he responded to the allegations that the NFL is simply hosting this session to gain money and rebuild its reputation.
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As Wyche explained, the league is paying for this event in an effort to get Kaepernick in front of the many teams that have requested information about the former 49ers QB. Additionally, the league says that the timing of the event also reinforces this due to the workout taking place at a time when everyone could be focusing on the upcoming battle between Deshaun Watson and Lamark Jackson.
Part of my report on the Kaepernick workout Saturday in Atlanta. I also reported on NFL Now @nflnetwork that Kaepernick and his reps can submit questions and control much of the narrative for a video interview that will be sent to teams. pic.twitter.com/OlV2KSMlDN
— Steve Wyche (@wyche89) November 13, 2019
While there have been some that have expressed the belief that Kaepernick could be soon signed to an NFL roster, Wyche did clarify that this may not be the case. As he was told by a team executive, this is actually more of a fact-finding mission for multiple franchises. They want to see where Kaepernick is in terms of preparation and plan on using this information during the offseason.
“The thought is, they are not looking to sign Kaepernick this season,” Wyche said. “This is to gather information to possibly bring him in the offseason. This executive said he believes this is what a lot of teams are doing. This is for not an immediate thing; this is for down the line.”
If this is accurate, there could be multiple teams looking to add Kaepernick to the roster in the spring based on the current depth chart, as well as the availability of top college quarterbacks based on draft position. For example, the Chicago Bears are a team that many believe will be looking for a quarterback this offseason, but they do not have a first-round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft. Kaepernick could be an option for head coach Matt Nagy and his offense.
(Photo Credit: Harry How/Getty)
