Should Colin Kaepernick be worried about future with San Francisco 49ers?

By Brian Spaen | Feb 11, 2015

Colin Kaepernick is doing everything he can this offseason to improve for a new era with the San Francisco 49ers. After a rough 2014 campaign, there may not be many chances left for the 27-year-old to continue being the starting quarterback fair or not. Kaepernick’s contract and a new coaching staff is just some of the reasoning.

Last summer, Kaepernick signed an extension with the 49ers, and it clearly sided to the benefit of the team. Every year before April 1st, San Francisco can get rid of him and not owe anything in penalties. Pro Football Talk first broke down the contract and explained how having the luxury of pondering his status until the deadline helps the team and hurts the quarterback.

"That gives the 49ers the ability to decide, in any given year, to move on from Kaepernick. And with the deadline for the conversion of the guarantee coming on April 1, the 49ers can squat on his rights until several weeks after the start of free agency, making it harder for him to get paid elsewhere."

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There’s also a de-escalator clause that removes $2 million per year if the 49ers don’t make the Super Bowl or if Kaepernick isn’t named on the first or second All-Pro teams. Obviously he’s going to lose $2 million after a forgettable 2014.

It still wasn’t stupid for Kaepernick to sign off on this deal. He was betting on himself, and he still has a lot of guaranteed money than when he first signed on with the team. The contract looks worse now that he is coming from a season where he had just 19 touchdowns to 10 interceptions, was sacked 52 times (second-most in the NFL behind Blake Bortles), and a passer rating of 86.4. That rating is worse than Jay Cutler and Mark Sanchez, who had less than thrilling 2014 campaigns.

Another problem is the changing of the guard on the coaching staff. Gone is Jim Harbaugh, the man who always had his back. He defended Kaepernick all season long, at one point calling him “great with a capital ‘G’.”

Now it’s Jim Tomsula with over half of the staff being new faces. Kaepernick has a lot of people to win over after working with Kurt Warner and getting back into training camp. The new staff is also looking to come back with more emphasis on read-option plays, which always puts the future of a quarterback at high risk.

Luckily, Kaepernick has the smarts to keep himself out of bad situations. He always avoids running straight into defenders and chooses to slide or get out of bounds when the option is present. However, it only takes one crushing hit to keep a guy from playing multiple games, or worse, the rest of the season.

Kaepernick should also be smart enough to pick the best opportunity for himself. If 2015 is another dud, and a .500 record is considered that with the 49ers’ new lofty expectations, it’s going to be highly unlikely that the team keeps him around for another season. If he plays well, but the team trudges to another mediocre season, then it may be a good idea for Kaepernick to look at other destinations to play quarterback at.

Next: San Francisco 49ers: Looking for reliable backup quarterback

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