Colin Kaepernick continues wait for work
The saga of Colin Kaepernick is both strange and apparently never-ending. Many assumed that his visit to the Seattle Seahawks in late May would bring an end to his free agency journey. Instead, the 29-year-old quarterback left the Emerald City without a deal, but with the possibility of one being struck.
On Monday, the news came down that the Seahawks had agreed to a contract with Austin Davis, giving Russell Wilson his backup. With that signing, the door was officially closed on the Kaepernick dream in Seattle.
It’s tough to make sense of exactly the motive here. The Seahawks are one of the better teams in the league and should want to have a top-notch backup quarterback, in case Wilson gets hurt. Last year, Wilson was constantly dealing with nagging ankle and knee injuries, but played all 16 games in the regular season. Part of that is due to his toughness. Part was due to the fact that Trevone Boykin was the backup quarterback, and nobody, especially Pete Carroll, wanted to see how that would play out in real time.
Kaepernick would have been an excellent fit in the Seattle scheme, which allows many throws for a quarterback who can be mobile both inside and outside of the pocket. Instead, general manager John Schneider went with Davis, who has not thrown a pass since 2015 when he was with the Cleveland Browns. Last year, Davis spent time as the third-string option for the Denver Broncos, meaning he sat behind Trevor Siemian and Paxton Lynch.
Ultimately, it appears Carroll believes Davis was a better fit because … he’s not as good as Kaepernick. Per ESPN, a few days before the signing of Davis:
“Colin’s been a fantastic football player, and he’s going to continue to be,” Carroll said. “At this time, we didn’t do anything with it, but we know where he is and who he is and we had a chance to understand him much more so. He’s a starter in this league. And we have a starter. But he’s a starter in this league, and I can’t imagine that someone won’t give him a chance to play.”
Kaepernick doesn’t have a resume that screams starter, although he’s certainly better than some of the men slated to get that opportunity around the league come September. Still, having him as a backup on a contending team could prove the difference between making the playoffs and missing them.
It remains to be seen what happens to Kaepernick and his career, but smart money says he eventually catches on somewhere before this upcoming season draws to a close.
