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Colin Kaepernick Rumors: Seahawks Haven't Contacted QB After Russell Wilson Injury
October 19, 2021
Colin Kaepernick wasn't among the free-agent quarterbacks to whom the Seattle Seahawks reached out as they look to adapt to Russell Wilson's finger injury, according to Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio.
Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll said Monday the franchise had contacted Cam Newton as well as "everybody that can help us."
Seattle placed WIlson on injured reserve ahead of its 23-20 overtime loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday. Geno Smith filled in for the seven-time Pro Bowler and finished 23-of-32 for 209 yards and one touchdown.
Deep inside his own territory, Smith fumbled the ball while getting sacked by T.J. Watt in overtime. That set up Chris Boswell's game-winning field goal.
If not an outright replacement for Smith, the Seahawks would probably benefit from signing another veteran signal-caller to provide some more depth until Wilson returns.
Considering how long he has been out of the league, it seems unlikely that candidate will be Kaepernick.
The 33-year-old hasn't appeared in an NFL game since 2016, the same season he began protesting against racial inequality and police brutality. He and former San Francisco 49ers teammate Eric Reid settled their grievances with the NFL in February 2019 after alleging owners colluded to keep them out of the league because of their social advocacy.
Granted, Smith didn't have a significant edge on Kaepernick in terms of recent starting experience.
He made a total of two starts between 2015 and 2020 prior to coming on in relief of Wilson. He spent the vast majority of that time as a backup with the Seahawks, New York Jets, New York Giants and Los Angeles Chargers.
In an effort to get back into the league, Kaepernick staged a workout in 2019, but the event was overshadowed by the drama preceding it.
He said in the November issue of Ebony he's still training in hopes of resuming his career:
"Absolutely. I am still up at 5 a.m. training five, six days a week making sure I'm prepared to take a team to a Super Bowl again. That's not something I will ever let go of, regardless of the actions of 32 teams and their partners to deny me employment. The same way I was persistent in high school is the same way I'm gonna be persistent here."
Kaepernick visited with the Seahawks in 2017 following his departure from San Francisco. Seattle didn't sign him, and Carroll said at the time he deserved the kind of opportunity to run an offense that wouldn't be coming with the Super Bowl XLVIII champions.
Three years later, Carroll expressed regret about not signing Kaepernick that offseason.