Despite Nathan Peterman, Brock Osweiler, Ryan Tannehill, and Sam Darnold starting at quarterback in the NFL this year, Colin Kaepernick remains out of work; all those quarterbacks have a lower QBR this season than the worst year of Kaepernick's career. The former signal-caller who led the 49ers to the Super Bowl in 2012 has filed a lawsuit against the NFL for collusion among league owners to keep him out of the league following his peaceful protest against police brutality during the national anthem. A request to dismiss the case has been denied by an arbiter. Yet, in a recent New York Times feature on NFL Players' Association President Eric Winston, it was revealed at least one owner who would certainly like to see Kaepernick back under center.
"Let me say this: I would very much like to see [Kaepernick] in the league,” Patriots owner Robert Kraft told the Times. However, when they pressed him about an unconfirmed report in September that the Patriots had discussed a backup role for Kaerpernick, he called it a "rumor" that came from a lawyer working with Kaepernick. When the paper asked if the report was untrue, they wrote, "he paused for three seconds. 'I’m done talking about it,' he said finally. (Mr. Kaepernick and his lawyer, Mark Geragos, did not respond to requests for comment.)"
Kraft is friends with Donald Trump, who has been outspoken in his criticism of Kaepernick, ignoring the discussion that the former QB is trying to have about police violence toward people of color, and specifically black people, in favor of ignorant and empty recriminations about patriotism and honoring the military. While it's nice to see Kraft say this on the record, Kaepernick remains out of the league, and any discussion about improving police-community relations remains buried beneath platitudes about respecting the flag.
