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Colin Kaepernick reminded the world last week that he’s still working out as if he’s an NFL quarterback. Sure, the former San Francisco 49ers signal-caller hasn’t gotten a sniff from a team for about a year or so, but that hasn’t stopped the 31-year-old from preparing for an opportunity to get back into the league. Will it ever actually happen? Only time will tell.
As Kaepernick continues to grind and stay in shape, hoping that an NFL team comes calling, Pro Football Talk‘s Mike Florio outlined a situation in which Kaep could actually get back into the league — and it’d come from the help of the XFL, which is scheduled to kick-off next spring.
According to Florio, once the NFL’s 32 team trim rosters from 90 to 53, the XFL will pounce on those cut players, trying to get them to commit to the resurrected league — which will make them ineligible to join an NFL team during the regular season. In Colin Kaepernick’s case, that could mean an NFL team comes calling for a backup quarterback spot once injuries or additional cuts are made. Take a look below at how Florio outlines the potentially interesting scenario.
If teams keep two quarterbacks on the roster, an injury to the starter will create a need for a new backup. And if eight to 16 of the third-string quarterbacks who fail to make an active roster choose to accept jobs with the eight teams of the XFL, they won’t be available to the NFL. That necessarily will bump Kaepernick’s name up the list of available free agents.
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No one knows what Kaepernick would actually want (for a salary) because, for more than two years and counting, no one has offered him a contract worth any amount of money. Given that Kaepernick has spent two full seasons and counting out of football, his path back to the game necessarily will include a willingness to say yes to whatever interest comes his way — and to get the word out now that he’s willing to fly anywhere and everywhere for a visit, a tryout, and if it comes to it a bargain-basement deal aimed at giving him a chance to remind everyone that, yes, he really is good enough.
Is it wrong that it got to this point? Absolutely. Is it, as a practical matter, the only way Kaepernick can re-establish himself? Unfortunately, it is.
So, essentially, Florio believes that Colin Kaepernick’s path back to the NFL could simply come down to supply and demand. Once other quarterbacks are cut by an NFL team and on the street looking for work, if the XFL comes calling to them, Kaepernick could become a real possibility to an NFL franchise.
There have been previous rumors that Kapernick has expressed interest in joining the XFL, but, let’s be honest, he’s trying to get back into the NFL and prove that he can beat the league that has blackballed him. After settling with the league on a lawsuit during the offseason, it doesn’t seem likely that an NFL team would take a chance on the guy — since NFL team owners tend to stick together on things like this. Who knows if a team becomes interested in Kaep because other options are no longer available, though.