Colin Kaepernick: 5 NFL teams that should finally sign quarterback

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Colin Kaepernick, Tennessee Titans (Photo by Peter G. Aiken/Getty Images) /

5. Tennessee Titans

Yes, the Tennessee Titans have their quarterback in Ryan Tannehill. And yes, Tannehill is actually one year younger than Colin Kaepernick meaning there won’t be any proverbial passing of the torch from Tannehill to Kap anytime soon. But it also doesn’t mean Kaepernick couldn’t come in and compete for the job in the next couple of seasons.

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Tannehill was a former first-round pick in 2012, just one season after Kaepernick went to the San Francisco 49ers in the second round. At that time, he was expected to be the Miami Dolphins’ future under center and he even earned a massive second contract from them.

In 2015, Miami and Tannehill agreed to a six-year, $96 million deal but then he ended up playing just four more seasons — while missing the entire 2017 campaign during that span. After signing the extension, Tannehill was 19-21 as a starter and would be traded to the Titans ahead of 2019.

After a solid season, once he took over for Marcus Mariota, Tannehill secured a $118 million extension covering four seasons. To call this contract questionable would be an understatement. Sure, Tannehill helped them get to the AFC Championship Game but in their two postseason wins, he completed 8-of-15 passes followed by a 7-of-14 game.

That was reminiscent of 1950s football where the forward pass was a shocking play, but Tennessee felt it was enough to justify nearly $30 million per season.

Sure, that’s the going rate for quarterbacks but rather than being stuck with that albatross of a deal for the full four seasons, why not bring in Kaepernick and see what he can do. Even if it’s not to take over for Tannehill, the Titans signal-caller has struggled mightily with durability in his career, so a solid backup that the team could believe in feels like a necessity in itself.

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