Is Colin Kaepernick too radioactive for the Kansas City Chiefs to sign?
By Matt Conner
Colin Kaepernick now says he’ll stand for the national anthem. Does that make him any less radioactive when it comes to worrying about the fan base?
The Kansas City Chiefs are in the market for a quarterback and maybe even two if they make the release of Nick Foles official. The Chiefs might feel okay with Tyler Bray in the fold or they might not, but bringing in a veteran for some additional competition like Foles brought last year wouldn’t be a bad move for Dorsey no matter how he plays the draft. So what about Colin Kaepernick.
It’s easy to write off Kaepernick as too radioactive. After all, Kaepernick’s refusal to stand for the national anthem divided fan bases all around the NFL, not just for the San Francisco 49ers, so it’s not surprising that any team might want to steer clear of the likely public relations nightmare it would bring to sign Kaep to a contract.
Adam Schefter, ESPN NFL analyst, however, has a report saying that Kaepernick now believes he has made his point and doesn’t feel the need to continue to do so in the future. This means he will be standing for the national anthem in 2017. Does this change things?
Despite the 1-10 record last year as a starter, Kaepernick threw 16 touchdowns and only 4 interceptions, and it’s hard to pin the 49ers’ struggles on the QB when the rest of the roster looked so devoid of talent. Kaepernick has never been the most accurate passer, but if he can avoid mistakes like that, he does bring an intriguing skill set to the position with his ability to run.
Last season, Kaepernick rushed 69 times for 468 yards and 2 touchdowns on the ground. It’s an offensive dimension the Chiefs did not have last year when Alex Smith apparently decided that taking off with the football was no longer something he wanted to do. Smith went from regularly moving the chains by taking advantage of the room in front of him to rarely doing so in 2016—dropping from 498 to 134 rushing yards in a single year.
Some fans will never even take a look at these stats, unfortunately, because the mention of Kaepernick’s name brings up such a negative opinion that their very interest in the team might be at stake. If Kaepernick were guaranteed starting material, then the Chiefs might be more interested, knowing that winning usually solves anything—as in the case of Tyreek Hill.
It will be interesting to see if any teams are interested in Kaepernick and how they deal with the controversy of bringing him in. His talent certainly deserves a back-up spot on most teams and maybe even a chance to start in the right place. For the franchise who believes they have enough good will built up, Kaepernick could be a nice addition—even if the immediate noise says otherwise.