The San Francisco 49ers have had Colin Kaepernick on their minds for the last several weeks as they attempt to put together a competitive roster. Kaepernick had a ridiculous cap hit heading into the 2016 season, and the 49ers embraced it as if they had planned for him to start all along.
This wouldn't be nearly as weird if Kaepernick had a normal year, but instead he was benched for Blaine Gabbert. Now three teams are working to have Kaepernick: the Denver Broncos, Cleveland Browns and of course the San Francisco 49ers.
Head coach Chip Kelly and the 49ers were pretty firm that they believed Kaepernick wanted to stay in San Fran, however the quarterback responded that it would be in his best interest to move on. The two sides are once again at an impasse, and it is almost certain they are at the negotiating table as well.
The 49ers don't want to trade Kaepernick for anything lower than a second round pick. The 49ers should fairly assume this is impossible unless they are waiting to see which team caves to the pressure of having to sign another free agent quarterback. Both teams could also sign a rookie quarterback and nullify this whole situation. The 49ers have no real leverage, and Kaepernick not wanting to play for them is not helping them at the negotiating table.
Browns head coach Hue Jackson genuinely wants to work with Kaepernick as he feels he can build an offense around him to better showcase his skills. The main problem is that they are not going to give up a second round pick for him when they could just pick up Carson Wentz or Jared Goff in the draft.
The Browns are reportedly offering a third round pick while the Broncos are offering up a fourth. The Browns may have misfired with Manziel, so it would make sense to have two reliable starting quarterbacks on their roster; the only problem is they have a ton of holes they would need to fill as they look to rebuild this roster from a disastrous offseason.
The Broncos just traded for Mark Sanchez and seem to be a bit reserved when it comes to offering up high-end draft picks for a quarterback. It is feasible the Broncos could trade both a first and second round pick to move their way into the top 10 and take a shot at finding a new franchise quarterback.
The 49ers may be playing both sides of the fence as they do not want to upset Kaepernick by not offering him up for trade, but they may want to keep him to see what he has left in the tank since they gave him such a high asking price. Pretty amazing that a player who could lead his team to two NFC Championships would have such a hard time finding a spot on a roster.
