Colin Kaepernick Got Less Than $10 Million In NFL Collusion Settlement, Report Says
NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who made headlines when he began protesting during the national anthem in the 2016 season, has not been signed by an NFL team for the last two seasons. This led Kaepernick and another protesting player, Eric Reid, to file a collusion case against the NFL, alleging that NFL owners had conspired to blackball the players. The case was filed through the NFL’s internal arbitration system and not in a court of law.
That case was settled in February, per CNBC, with a financial settlement for the players, although the exact financial terms were not disclosed. Speculative reports at the time had the settlement in the $60-$80 million range, as reported last month by Pro Football Talk.
However, a new report says that Kaepernick and Reid likely received much less than that.
A Wall Street Journal report Thursday said that Kaepernick and Reid, between the two of them, will receive less than $10 million from the league in the settlement. It’s unclear how it will be split between them.
Kaepernick has remained out of the league, but Reid has not. The defensive back signed with the Carolina Panthers during the 2018 season and went on to agree to a three-year contract extension last month.
A report last week on Pro Football Talk stated that Kaepernick was interested in signing with the Miami Dolphins. That team had been left without an established starting quarterback after it traded Ryan Tannehill to the Tennessee Titans earlier this month, but then the team signed veteran Ryan Fitzpatrick.
Kaepernick has said throughout the process that he wants to continue to play football, and the PFT report quoted a source as saying that Kaepernick is “training hard and ready to play.”
From Feb. 18, an explanation as to why the Kaepernick settlement wasn't anywhere close to what was speculated at the time the settlement happened https://t.co/tDSqa6nNfg
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) March 21, 2019
Prior to last season, Kaepernick re-upped his endorsement deal with Nike and appeared in a television commercial with the slogan “believe in something even if it means sacrificing everything.” This was followed by a brief dip in Nike’s stock, but the company’s performance soon rebounded, making it clear that the apparel manufacturer’s bet had paid off, per Forbes.
Last month, a sporting goods store in Colorado that had pulled all Nike merchandise following the Kaepernick campaign announced that it was closing its doors. Per The Inquisitr, the store’s owner said that the store’s bottom line was hurt by its decision to stop selling official NFL jerseys, which are made exclusively by Nike.
