The New Orleans Saints suddenly have a problem with quarterback depth, and Colin Kaepernick could be their solution.
The Saints will be without the historically durable Drew Brees for several weeks after he suffered a thumb injury in his team’s Week 2 loss to the Los Angeles Rams, leaving veteran Teddy Bridgewater as the starter and all-around weapon Taysom Hill as the backup.
With Brees set to miss his first action since his high school days, the team is suddenly lacking depth in the quarterback department. The Fansided blog Who Dat Dish suggests that Kaepernick could finally get a call to come back to the league. The former Super Bowl starter has been out since leaving the San Francisco 49ers in 2016, but his agent has said he has remained in game-ready condition and could be one of the best options for the team, given the run on free agent quarterbacks with a recent spate of injuries.
As the report noted, signing Kaepernick could actually make sense for New Orleans.
“He’s a cheap option for New Orleans and shouldn’t bring too much attention to himself or the team. With many teams in a worse position at quarterback than New Orleans, it’s crazy that Kap, who has reached out to teams, is still on the market,” the report noted.
There have been some other rumblings of potential landing spots for Kaepernick, especially after season-ending injuries to Ben Roethlisberger and Trevor Siemian. The former 49ers quarterback also has some vocal backers, including the oldest living child of civil rights activist Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King III spoke to TMZ Sports to advocate for Kaepernick’s return to the league. The quarterback’s backers say that the league has blackballed him since he sparked what became a league-wide protest against police brutality, carried out by kneeling during the national anthem.
King suggested that if fans were willing to boycott watching the NFL, owners could cave and allow Kaepernick back into the league.
“What would change it overnight is if the public decided, ‘Okay, we’re not going to watch,’” he said.
Earlier this week, Kaepernick’s camp addressed the rumors of his comeback, saying that the quarterback is ready and able to return whenever a team comes calling. His management has already been in contact with some of the teams in need of quarterback help, though it’s not clear if any have expressed interest in signing the former 49er.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqYb662lZa4
“Colin is literally in the best shape of his life,” a source close to Kaepernick told SNY, via Pro Football Talk . “He’s been working out five days a week at 5 a.m. for three years. He wants to play and his agent has been contacting teams in need of a quarterback.”