NFL Trade Rumors: Hue Jackson And Browns Not Interested In Colin Kaepernick
Talks during the NFL offseason can be both surprising and enlightening. The one element that’s never lost is entertainment. The latest circus of rumors is highlighting Colin Kaepernick. There are teams interested in San Francisco’s Super Bowl quarterback. The latest to show interest was supposed to be the Cleveland Browns. Suddenly, that seems to be no more than speculation.
As reported by the Inquisitr, Kaepernick had the blessings of team owner Trent Baalke. He mentioned at the NFL Combine that Kaepernick would be on the Niners roster. During the combine talks, what is said and what happens later is usually a matter of time and circumstance.
Baalke said he was confident with the quarterback situation, via ESPN, but was going to remain open about what could possibly happen.
“We feel pretty good with the guys we have, but we’re always looking,” he said. “We’re always looking, and we’re certainly going to scour this draft and the free-agent market that’s out there. There’s obviously not a lot of quarterbacks that make it to free agency, as we know, but we’re going to look at every avenue.”
When NFL Insider Ian Rapoport linked Kaepernick to the Texans, that report was rebutted by a response from Houston. Now, according to NFL Network, Kaepernick’s agents are saying that he wants to be traded.
The Cleveland Browns were rumored to be interested in acquiring the skills of Kaepernick. A denial by the Plain Dealer has turned away that scenario, at least for the immediate future. The Browns are expected to draft either North Dakota State’s Carson Wentz or Cal’s Jared Goff at No. 2 but have said they’ll explore all options to improve the team.
Niners owner Jed York had a recent conversation with Kaepernick that went well. He mentioned that the signal-caller would be a part of their system moving forward.
“I asked how he was feeling. I hope he’s doing well. I care about his health and well-being because I think he can be a big piece of what we’re doing going forward.”
Niners head coach Chip Kelly has stated that Kaepernick wants to stay in San Francisco. Kelly is excited to be working with him and Kaepernick feels the same.
“I’ve never thought that, ‘Hey, I’m going to go to San Francisco and he’s not going to be there,'” Kelly stated. “I don’t know why everybody else looks at it that way, either. Kap’s really good. He had the ball on the 5 yard line, taking the team in to win the Super Bowl. You can just look at the tape and know how talented he is. Our job is acquiring talent, not getting rid of talent.”
Kaepernick has been linked to the Browns because coach Hue Jackson loved him when he was the head coach of the Raiders in 2011 and Kaepernick was coming out Nevada. Jackson has said the Raiders tried to trade up to draft and regretted the fact it didn’t happen.
“Scouting him, I fell in love with the kid,” Jackson remembered. “Leader, won a ton of games at Nevada, really impressive when you talked to him, strong, all the tools to win in the NFL. No doubt in my mind he was going to be good.”
Whether Kaepernick’s agents have actually requested permission to seek a trade or have simply told reporters that they have, the interest in him has been tweaked. With or without permission for Kaepernick to seek a trade, potentially interested teams now know there’s a reason to make a phone call to the Niners, despite the fact that the 49ers have spent the last two days trying to create the impression that all is well.
As of now, Kaepernick to the Cleveland Browns is just more offseason entertainment.
[Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images]
