Some people won’t like this idea but I’m just gonna go ahead and say it: Colin Kaepernick’s stock is so low, the Kansas City Chiefs should consider him.
I had this post written a few weeks ago but stopped to think about it. I finally publish it today because I saw a piece in the NY Daily News that says the Chiefs are the perfect fit for him. I don’t know about perfect but the Chiefs make more sense than a lot of other teams.
You have your feelings about Kaepernick and I’m not going to change them in this blog post whether they’re positive or negative.
That said, a few thoughts:
His stock has never been lower. This move only makes sense if the Chiefs are getting Kaepernick dirt cheap. This is about taking advantage of a market inefficiency. Based on talent alone, Kaepernick should not be a free agent.
It’d be tough to do that to Alex Smith again. I keep coming back to this.
I think about this scenario: Kaepernick spends a year or two with Andy Reid to rebuild himself as an NFL quarterback, another team signs him to a decent deal after that and the Chiefs reap the compensatory pick rewards. That scenario could happen even with him mostly riding the bench (see: Daniel, Chase).
Andy Reid nearly traded a second round pick for Kaepernick before the 2012 NFL Draft. This was after Alex Smith had broken out with Harbaugh which seemingly made Kaepernick expendable. Of course, it never materialized and that’s a long time ago ...
The distraction talk is real, especially after the President talking about it recently. Few veteran teams are as prepared to handle a distraction as the Chiefs (see: Hill, Tyreek). Still, that doesn’t mean they should go out and seek drama. Is the backup quarterback worth that?
Chiefs players have supported Kaepernick. After the anthem stuff started, the Chiefs and specifically Marcus Peters were one of the first teams to say they supported him. What seems forgotten is the Chiefs demonstrated in their own way, too.
Real football point: the Chiefs actually do need a backup quarterback. They’ve always had a veteran backup. Kaepernick is a veteran.