At the very least, Colin Kaepernick’s collusion suit against the NFL appears to be causing some major headaches in league offices.
Yahoo! Sports’s Charles Robinson detailed Friday how the NFL has begun building a defense against the allegations, but there has been building “agitation” among the league’s lawyers in recent days.
In addition, the league is reportedly sifting through a number of records requests, with Kaepernick’s case centering around ten owners or teams. Already reported are requests for records and depositions from owners Jerry Jones of the Cowboys and Bob McNair of the Texans. Patriots owner Robert Kraft, 49ers owner Jed York, Giants co-owners John Mara and Steve Tisch, and Seahawks coach Pete Carroll have also been singled out, while Kaepernick’s lawyers also seek records from the Baltimore Ravens, Miami Dolphins, Jacksonville Jaguars, and Tennessee Titans.
Virtually everyone being named fits into one of three categories. In the cases of Jones, McNair, and Kraft, all three owners are close to President Trump, who has been extremely critical of Kaepernick and others protesting the anthem. Jones and McNair have both spoken out against those who kneel. The Seahawks and Ravens both expressed interest in signing Kaepernick at one point before ultimately deciding against it, while the Dolphins and Titans both signed stand-ins for injured quarterbacks during the season without even looking Kaepernick’s way. The Jaguars have not dealt with an injured quarterback, but Blake Bortles has been far from convincing as the team’s starter, and team VP Tom Coughlin was quite evasive when asked why Kaepernick was never of any interest to them.
While the Giants never had any interest in Kaepernick, Mara did voice concerns over how such a signing would be received by fans, while York was Kaepernick’s previous employer with San Francisco.
It is worth noting that Kaepernick would only need to prove that two or more teams conspired to keep him off an NFL roster to satisfy the definition of collusion.
The report states that more depositions are likely coming, and could include communications with or about President Trump, as well as the relationship between Jones and John Schnatter of Papa John’s, who has been critical of the NFL’s handling of the situation.
Whatever the case, the NFL is certainly going to deal with a lot of issues in the coming weeks and months. It’s the last thing Roger Goodell — who would rather put this whole thing behind him — will want.
