The discussion surrounding Colin Kaepernick’s free agency continues to get more bizarre with each passing day.
The former 49ers quarterback remains is still a free agent nearly a month into the offseason. Many believe Kap is essentially being blackballed for his national anthem protest last year, while others feel the $10 million he is reportedly looking to earn next season is too steep a price for a backup level quarterback.
Then there’s Friday morning’s report from CSN Bay Area’s Matt Maiocco, that some teams are worried about Kaepernick’s vegan diet, and aren’t convinced he’s committed to football.
At season’s end, Colin Kaepernick stated he was fully committed to football. But some teams are unconvinced and wonder about his vegan diet.
— Matt Maiocco (@MaioccoNBCS) March 31, 2017
The point here, I think, is once teams decide they don't want someone, they come up with plenty of reasons to try to justify the decision. https://t.co/w1jewivDmV
— Matt Maiocco (@MaioccoNBCS) March 31, 2017
This is one of the more absurd angles to come out of the Kaepernick saga, especially because it doesn’t make a lot of sense. Tom Brady, arguably the greatest quarterback of all time, is known to have an extremely healthy diet, and reportedly hasn’t eaten sugar in over a decade.
tom brady eats avocado ice cream, quinoa pancakes and hasn't tasted sugar since 2003 https://t.co/GhKw05pReB
— Jason Gay (@jasongay) March 31, 2017
Still, there are those who believe that a running quarterback like Kaepernick, who takes more hits than your average signal caller, needs to add weight that may prove difficult without eating meat.
No. For Kap to be successful, he has to run. If he's not bigger, it'll be harder to take hits. If he's vegan, it's harder to gain weight. https://t.co/nb4ubVrt54
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) March 31, 2017
KNBR.com Senior Writer Kevin Jones joined PCon and Paul McCaffrey on Friday morning, and discussed the absurdity surrounding Kaepernick’s free agency, saying he believes that Kap hasn’t been signed because he’s simply not that good.
“Those of us who watched every game and every play last year know that he’s not a starting quarterback in the NFL,” Jones began. “Chip Kelly does a tremendous job of this; 16 touchdowns, four interceptions, guess what? Nick Foles had 27 touchdowns, two interceptions. Chip Kelly can prop up a quarterback in his system, and you can look at the stats at the end of the year and you’re like ‘oh my gosh he didn’t have that bad of a year.’
“A lot of the people arguing for Kaepernick did not watch every play like we did. He is grouped in with Jay Cutler right now as a quarterback who can definitely still play in the league, but they think they’re starters, they want at least $10 million a year, and that’s just not a situation you want to have with a backup right now. If he recognizes he’s a backup and will take a significant pay cut, I think a team will pick him up.”
Listen to the full interview below.