Colin Kaepernick Trade To Denver Broncos Official — Minus A New Contract
Colin Kaepernick may soon have a new home.
The 49ers quarterback has been publicly lobbying for a trade out of San Francisco for some time now and it looks like the former Super Bowl-caliber quarterback is headed to the Denver Broncos.
As reported by ESPN‘s Adam Schefter, the trade to the Broncos is nearly complete with the final obstacle of salary standing between the two teams.
“San Francisco and Denver have the parameters of an agreement in principle on a trade for quarterback Colin Kaepernick, sources said, but before any deal can be completed, Kaepernick and the Broncos have to agree on a restructured contract.”
Schefter also noted, however, that both sides weren’t exactly close in their negotiation at the moment.
SF-DEN have parameters of trade agreement on Colin Kaepernick, but still need restructured deal to complete… https://t.co/93waYznrUa
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 2, 2016
Should Denver and Colin Kaepernick agree to a restructured contract, Broncos then expected to trade mid-round pick to SF to complete deal.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 2, 2016
Working out trade comp for Kaepenick was easy part. Tougher part is convincing Kaep to take less guaranteed $. It’s why trade not yet close.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 2, 2016
You would have to wonder whether or not Kaepernick’s pride would keep him from taking a pay cut considering the obscene amounts of money that have been handed out the NFL this offseason. Brock Osweiler and Sam Bradford each signed deals that pay them both close to $18 million dollars and they weren’t one throw away from winning the Super Bowl three years ago. (The outlandish money being paid sub-par quarterbacks is one of the major sticking points keeping Ryan Fitzpatrick, who won 10 games and posted career numbers last year, from re-signing with the Jets, as reported by Inquisitr.)
But you also have to wonder from Denver’s point of view if they feel they should pay Colin upwards of $11.9 million, which was fully guaranteed as of April 1, to simply compete for the starting job with recent acquisition Mark Sanchez. According to the USA Today, GM John Elway fully expects Kaepernick to compete with Sanchez if the trade goes through.
“If the Broncos, Niners and Kaepernick can reach agreements on all facets of the trade, Kaepernick and Sanchez would expected to compete for the starting quarterback job. Kaepernick is still recovering from surgeries to his thumb, knee and shoulder, and it remains unclear when he will be cleared for full participation in voluntary practices. He has been rehabbing from those surgeries in Vail, Colo.”
Elway got the ball rolling with Kaepernick as reported by SF Gate on Thursday. The purpose of the discussion, according to the report, was to renegotiate his salary, pointing out that Denver has just $1.62 million left in cap space for the 2016 season. It also pointed out that the 49ers allowed this meeting to take place, and without that permission, the teams would not be allowed to communicate directly to make the trade happen.
The interesting part there, of course, is that both 49es GM Trent Baalke and new head coach Chip Kelly have gone on record as saying they wanted Colin back as quarterback next year in San Francisco, something that clearly doesn’t seem to add up.
“Not even in the conversation,” Kelly said when asked about the possibility of the 49ers cutting Kaepernick prior to the April 1 salary deadline, as reported by Oregon Live. “I did make him understand that just because there is a business side doesn’t mean we don’t want him here. I really would love to work with him, and I think he understands that.”
But with a trade almost in place, it looks like Colin Kaepernick is headed to the Denver Broncos instead.
[Photo credit Elsa/Getty Images]
