NFL teams keep fumbling the ball in their own end zone. The notion that skill or age or experience keeps Colin Kaepernick out of NFL fell away the moment Washington signed Mark Sanchez to back up Colt McCoy. Neither player led his team to the Super Bowl, and neither objectively approaches the tools the former Niners quarterback exhibited in even his worst NFL season. Sure, Kaep isn't Tom Brady or Aaron Rodgers, but he's more than a few tiers above Mark freakin' Sanchez or Buffalo's Nathan Peterman.
Perhaps that's why Yahoo's report on Monday that Kaepernick is willing to play for Washington, or any other team that would have him, adds another layer to his collusion lawsuit against the league. Namely, one of reprisal, as Pro Football Talkmentioned Monday morning. Has Kaepernick's case against the NFL submarined his latest attempts to secure a job in his chosen profession? It seems that way.
What began as a business decision—that Kaepernick's presence in an NFL locker room would be too much of a distraction (see also: Michael Sam not so long ago) for teams to take a chance on him—could now be punishment for his legal maneuverings. That's because the business argument, along with those about his play, is not based in reality. Ask Nike, who made an informed decision to cast Kaepernick as the face of their 30th anniversary "Just Do It" ad campaign. He is good for business or else a multi-national corporation like Nike wouldn't pay him.
By process of elimination, that only leaves sour grapes on the part of NFL owners for continuing to prevent Kaepernick's gainful employment. We didn't go to law school, but the only logical reason Kaep remains unsigned is that teams are doling out punishment for his lawsuit. They're not even calling him, despite his skills and experience. Even before this latest bit of chicanery, with teams tripping over themselves attempting to explain why they're putting an inferior product on the field, an independent arbitrator agreed Colin Kaepernick's lawsuit has merit.
Now, every owner's retaliatory anger about the lawsuit merely strengthens it.
