Richard Sherman believes Colin Kaepernick has been blackballed by NFL

If you think Colin Kaepernick is being deliberately ignored by NFL general managers, you’re not alone.

Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman told ESPN First Take on Friday that he thinks Kaepernick is being blackballed, as his level of play doesn’t merit being unsigned.

“I’m sure he is,” Sherman said, via Sheil Kapadia of ESPN. “It’s difficult to see because he’s played at such a high level, and you see guys, quarterbacks, who have never played at a high level being signed by teams. So it’s difficult to understand. Obviously he’s going to be in a backup role at this point. But you see quarterbacks, there was a year Matt Schaub had a pretty rough year and got signed the next year. So it has nothing to do with football. You can see that. They signed guys who have had off years before.

“You don’t have 32 starting-level quarterbacks in this league. You have about eight elites, and then you have the rest of the league. You have about eight, nine elite quarterbacks. You have two or three who have the potential to be elite. And then you have the rest of the teams. So he could play and start on a ton of teams in this league. He would be a starter on probably 20 of the teams in this league. But you’re telling me that you’re going to let other guys, you’re going to pick up some of these other guys and tell me that they’re starters?”

There’s definitely some agreement among NFL players that Kaepernick isn’t unsigned for lack of talent. The controversy surrounding his political stances is likely the primary thing working against him.