San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick (7) scrambles under pressure of Seattle Seahawks linebacker Malcolm Smith (53) during the 2013 NFC Championship football game at CenturyLink Field. The Seahawks defeated the 49ers 23-17 to advance to Super Bowl XLVIII. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
One of the biggest stories for the San Francisco 49ers going forward will be the impending contract extension for Colin Kaepernick, who is one of the league’s best young quarterbacks and has as much upside as just about anyone. Not only is Kaep an electrifying rusher, but he also has elite arm talent with a howizter for an arm and can showcase pinpoint accuracy. However, Kaepernick is still raw, as he struggles to progress through reads at times and still needs to be more consistent with his ball placement so that he is a truly accurate quarterback.
Nevertheless, Kaepernick is just 26, set the world on fire in the 2012 season that saw the 49ers reach the Super Bowl, and was very good down the stretch in 2013 when Michael Crabtree returned from an injury. And if the 49ers are able to sign DeSean Jackson to an affordable deal, then all the pieces would be set for Kaepernick to have a monster third year as a starter as he heads into his contract year.
Kaepernick is perfectly fine with playing through the final year of his rookie deal, because he isn’t looking to get a lucrative extension quickly; he’s looking to get the most amount of money possible. The comments he made early in the offseason about taking less money to balance the team’s needs seems to be hogwash at this point, because he is reportedly looking for Jay Cutler or Tony Romo money. And that’s perfectly fine, because he is at that level.
49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh said this about extending Kaepernick, “The priority is Colin Kaepernick is a San Francisco 49er for however long we can have him be a San Francisco 49er. It’s definitely a high priority.”
He added some effusive praise on the shoulders of his franchise quarterback, “Amazing individual. Amazing player. He shows up and works all the time. There’s really nobody to compete with him in a workout situation. He will bury everybody. And then when somebody tries to compete with him, he just ramps his competitiveness up and somebody’s over there on a knee throwing up.”
Was there ever any doubt that he would call this a “high priority”? I mean, it’s pretty obvious, right? The 49ers will do what they can to get Kaepernick at a cheaper price, but it’s clear that franchise quarterbacks have all the leverage. Unless if they want to put themselves in an uncertain position, they will meet Kaep’s demands, and we have no indication that they will play too hard. Of course, they aren’t going to give him the Joe Flacco treatment either.