Baltimore Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti admitted over the weekend that the team is gauging fan reaction to see if signing Colin Kaepernick would be a good idea, but it sounds like the players in the locker room have already shared their opinions.
Terrell Suggs, the longest-tenured member of the Ravens, and other veteran players said they would love to have Kaepernick as a teammate.
“Hell yeah, if he’s going to help us win,” Suggs told Jamison Hensley of ESPN.com on Sunday. “We have no issues. Not in the locker room. Hell yeah, we want him.”
Lardarius Webb, a 31-year-old cornerback who is entering his ninth season in Baltimore, said having another talented quarterback in camp to push the other backup quarterbacks would be a plus.
“I would love to have him to come challenge some other quarterbacks,” Webb said. “We all know Joe (Flacco) is our guy. We love (Ryan) Mallett. But yeah, we all would like competition around here to make everyone better.”
Kaepernick would draw a lot of media attention, which is something many teams don’t want from a backup quarterback. Veteran tight end Benjamin Watson believes the Ravens would do a good job of blocking all that out.
“This locker room is one where everybody has a respect for other people when they don’t have the same point of view,” Watson said. “There are a lot of strong personalities. One thing I noticed before I got to the Ravens, I heard the Ravens organization would allow you to be yourself. That’s the culture that’s here.”
Flacco is dealing with a back injury, but he is not in danger of missing any regular season games. The quarterback already shared his thoughts on Kaepernick potentially signing with the Ravens.
Kaepernick seems like he is getting closer to finding a job, and having players like Suggs rally for him could go a long way. The decision will ultimately be up to Bisciotti, but Suggs certainly has a powerful voice in Baltimore.
