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NFL Rumors: Colin Kaepernick, RG III Trade Talks Intensify

By Michael Dolce

From the archive: published Feb 28, 2016, 10 years ago. Details may have changed since.

It’s the NFL offseason, the time of year where fan speculation is rampant as to where their favorite (and not-so-favorite) stars will end up. Such is the case for both Colin Kaepernick and Robert Griffin III, two former star quarterbacks who’ve gone from future elites to washed up has-beens in just under three years.

And both are rumored to be playing for different teams next year, despite the fact that both their current employers picked up the options on their massively bloated contracts. But where will each player end up?

Colin Kaepernick’s name was recently linked to the New York Jets, as reported by the Inquisitr. But as reported by ESPN ‘s Jets blogger Rich Cimini, don’t bet the farm on it happening.

“From what I understand, the Jets aren’t interested in the reportedly disgruntled San Francisco 49ers quarterback. There’s a lot of speculation about the Jets and Kaepernick — shocker! — but I get a strong sense their plan is to proceed with the Ryan Fitzpatrick negotiations.”

Not only does this jive with recent tweets from industry insiders like Jason LaCanfora, but Cimini goes a step further when you compare Kaepernick’s numbers to another former 2nd round pick, the much maligned Geno Smith – currently the New York Jets backup quarterback.

According to the numbers Geno Smith has a 77.8 passer rating and 5-11 record over the past 16 starts. Kaepernick’s stats across the same 16 games is not much better, if at all, boasting a 77.6 passer rating and 55.2 QBR. And Colin’s 13/10 touchdown to interception record is also eerily similar to Smith’s who finished with 16/14 and a QBR of 51.9 over that same stretch.

No, the most likely stop for Kaepernick will not be the New York Jets, despite his agents’ attempt to get him traded there. Two teams that do have a legitimate interest in Colin, however, are the Cleveland Browns and Houston Texans, according to a tweetfrom NFL Network‘s Ian Rapoport.

The Texans are a playoff-ready team in need of a big time arm behind center to help take that next leap forward, while the Browns are simply looking to ditch former No. 1 draft pick Johnny Manziel and reboot the franchise. Of course, that’s if the 49ers decide to deal Kap at all. The word from the front office this week has sounded a lot more positive than in previous weeks.

“All I can tell you is that the last conversation I had with Kap was a good conversation,” York told Mark Purdy of the San Jose Mercury News. “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.”

Another quarterback whose status appears in limbo at the moment is RG III from Washington, who was all but gone from the organization as they hoped to re-sign Kirk Cousins to a long term deal. And while that still appears to be the case, the Redskins have had to franchise Cousins as the two sides appear unable to come to a long-term deal recently.

And while the Browns have also been linked to a trade involving RG III, ironically enough, End Zone Score is actually reporting that the best landing spot for the former No. 2 pick would be the San Francisco 49ers, after a tweet from Ian Rapoport confirmed the team’s possible interest.

Where do you think Colin Kaepernick and RG III will end up?

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