San Francisco 49ers general manager Trent Baalke told reporters at the NFL Scouting Combine on Wednesday that the team will keep Colin Kaepernick for the 2016 season.
As Pro Football Talk notes, Kaepernick’s $12 million salary for 2016 becomes fully guaranteed on April 1. Baalke said that Kaepernick will remain on the roster and that he will compete with Blaine Gabbert for a starting job in training camp.
While many have speculated that Kaepernick could be a perfect fit for Chip Kelly’s offense, Kelly has said very little — a lot less than we expected, in fact — about his plans for the 28-year-old quarterback. That has led to speculation that Kelly might not even want Kaepernick, which would directly contradict a report we heard about how high Kelly was on Kaep.
If Kaepernick and Kelly end up being a good fit together, $12 million for a starting quarterback will be a bargain. If not, the 49ers can just cut Kaepernick next offseason before his 2017 salary becomes guaranteed. For Kaepernick’s sake, we hope the rumors we heard about him wanting to play for another NFL team were untrue.
