49ers need to blow it up
Happy birthday, Colin Kaepernick. We hope you enjoyed your birthday cake and the card we sent you. Oh, by the way, we are demoting you to the backup quarterback spot behind the immortal Blaine Gabbert.
- Sincerely, the San Francisco 49ers
This is the birthday gift that Kaepernick received in so many words on Tuesday, with the news breaking that the 49ers would be turning to Gabbert under center. Gabbert was a first-round draft pick of the Jacksonville Jaguars back in 2011, a team looking for an identity. Gabbert became one of the worst quarterbacks of the decade and was eventually taken on by San Francisco, a team with a hole at backup quarterback.
Now, suddenly, Kaepernick has lost his job to Gabbert and with it, his chance to ever save face in the Bay Area. Kaepernick has a $126 million deal with $61 million guaranteed that just began this season with the 49ers, but the team can get out of the contract without any cap penalty at the conclusion of this season.
At this juncture, it seems blatantly obvious to anybody with two working eyes – or one for that matter – that San Francisco needs to be completely overhauled. The 49ers are a complete mess form the top down, becoming one of the most dysfunctional organizations in all of professional sports.
General manager Trent Baalke must be the first thrown off the proverbial ship. Baalke could not get along with the megastar head coach Jim Harbaugh, running him out of town. Baalke then could not keep a plethora of free agents in town over the spring, including Frank Gore, Mike Iupati, Michael Crabtree, Chris Culliver and more.
Perhaps Baalke’s worst sin was signing Kaepernick to that massive aforementioned contract, showcasing his clear belief in a player who while athletic, is anything but a starting quarterback for a championship team. Baalke traded Alex Smith in 2013 for a pair of second-round picks to the Kansas City Chiefs, and while Smith is average, he is looking like Steve Young or Joe Montana compared to Kaepernick.
When this disaster of a season finally and mercifully concludes, 49ers owner Jed York should fire Baalke. He should also put head coach Jim Tomsula out of his misery, even though the poor guy had nothing of a chance. The entire team needs an overhaul, including the jettisoning of Kaepernick. If you are going to start fresh, you might as well do it all the way.
San Francisco reached the Super Bowl in 2012. It went back to the NFC Championship game for the third consecutive year in 2013. It regressed in 2014, falling to 8-8 under a massive cloud of uncertainty.
Now, in 2015, it is likely headed for a top-3 pick in the 2016 NFL Draft.
