San Francisco 49ers: Not releasing Colin Kaepernick is right move
By Nick Ziegler
One of the biggest stories this offseason has been what will happen between the San Francisco 49ers and their quarterback this offseason.
Colin Kaepernick has been involved in plenty of rumors this offseason, as every team that needs a quarterback has been linked to the 28-year-old. The quarterback position is easily the most important one of the football field, but yet the hardest position to find a great player. Good quarterbacks get paid pretty much whatever they want, as teams know that letting an above average quarterback hit the open market will be a disaster.
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The Denver Broncos are the most recent team to see what happens if a decent quarterback hits the free agency market, as they lost their projected 2016 starter in Brock Osweiler to the Houston Texans. Osweiler hasn’t done much in his professional career yet, but the Texans believe that he has a bright future and were willing to hand him a lot of money to take a shot at him being elite.
The 49ers have undergone a lot of change the past few seasons, as Jim Harbaugh has gone to Michigan, and it is now Chip Kelly running the show on the sidelines. Last season with Jim Tomsula as the head coach, Kaepernick was benched in favor of former first-round pick Blaine Gabbert. It was not a good season by any means for Kaepernick in 2015, as he totaled a 2-6 record as a starter, with six touchdown passes, five interceptions, and one rushing touchdown.
Kelly has made no guarantees that Kaepernick is going to be the starting quarterback in 2016, but it was adamant that he will be on the team.
Kaepernick’s base salary doesn’t become fully guaranteed until April 1st, as the 49ers could still change their minds and release him. Even though there have been two straight seasons that the 49ers missed the playoffs with Kaepernick, he is still their best option to get back to the playoffs.
It wasn’t too long ago that Kaepernick helped lead the 49ers to the Super Bowl after an injury to Alex Smith. In 2012, Kaepernick totaled a 5-2 record in the regular season, 10 touchdown passes, three interceptions, 415 rushing yards, and five rushing touchdowns. The dynamic ability to both throw and run helped the 49ers make it all the way to the New Orleans, and Kaepernick also played very well in their playoff run.
In the 2012 playoffs, Kaepernick totaled 798 passing yards, four passing touchdowns, and two interceptions. The 49ers were one play away from winning the Super Bowl, and this discussion about whether or not Kaepernick will be on the team in 2016 would be a silly thing to bring up if that happened.
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The 49ers may not be thrilled with Kaepernick these past two seasons, and he may not be happy with the organization as well, but they are still a good fit together. Kaepernick has a really good chance to thrive in Kelly’s quarterback friendly offense in 2016 assuming he wins the job from Gabbert.
There is still time for the 49ers to change their mind, but the 49ers releasing Kaepernick could hurt the team for years to come as it is extremely difficult to find franchise quarterbacks in the NFL.