Bruce Arians: Colin Kaepernick needs ‘the right system’ to play in NFL

Colin Kaepernick remains a free agent, and it is starting to look like there’s a good chance he won’t find work before the start of the 2017 season. Many believe that has everything to do with his controversial political stances. Others, like Arizona Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians, feel it is more of a football thing.

In an appearance on PFT Live Wednesday, Arians said Kaepernick has proven he can play at the NFL level but is best fit for a certain system.

“He can play in the right system,” Arians said. “He’s proven that. When he was with [former 49ers offensive coordinator] Greg Roman, that system fit him perfectly. He’s a read-option, athletic guy. He can throw it down the field with the play-action passes. He struggled against us in the past out of the pocket. It’s just finding the right fit.”

Whether or not Kaepernick is being blackballed by NFL teams because of his national anthem protest last year has been a widely debated topic. Arians is not the first coach to raise the point of Kaepernick needing to be in a specific system, and Tony Dungy said teams would overlook the non-football stuff if they felt Kaepernick could help them win games.

Kaepernick, 28, appeared in 12 games for the San Francisco 49ers last season and had a passer rating of 90.7, throwing 16 touchdowns to just four interceptions. While one team had a mind-boggling reason for not signing him, the truth is likely that football and politics have played a role in Kaepernick remaining unsigned.