For a brief period last week, it seemed like a foregone conclusion that Colin Kaepernick would be playing for a team other than the San Francisco 49ers in 2016. But all of a sudden, trade talks have cooled off considerably.
A source told CSNBayArea.com’s Matt Maiocco on Thursday that there is a “good chance” Kaepernick will remain with the 49ers. The three teams that were said to have interest in Kaepernick — the Cleveland Browns, New York Jets and Denver Broncos — have reportedly not shown much urgency to trade for the 29-year-old with the Niners still demanding a high draft pick.
Maiocco also reports that the 49ers are not expected to release Kaepernick, though Chip Kelly suddenly sounds less certain about Kaepernick’s future with the team than he was last month.
“If he’s here on April 4 [at the start of the offseason program] we’re going to coach the heck out of him, and he’s going to work his [tail] off,†Kelly said Wednesday, per Matt Barrows of The Sacramento Bee.
After essentially ignoring Kaepernick’s existence when he was named the new head coach in San Francisco, Kelly later said Kaepernick was not in danger of being released.
Although Kaepernick has supposedly asked the Niners to explore trade possibilities for him, he still plans to attend the team’s offseason program. His $11.1 million salary for 2016 will become fully guaranteed if he is still with the Niners on April 1.
Plenty could still happen before the start of the season, but all signs point to the 49ers needing to lower their asking price if they want to move Kaepernick. From the way it sounds, they might be content to just keep him.
