Michigan HC Jim Harbaugh: Team That Signs Colin Kaepernick 'Will Be Very Happy'

Michigan head football coach Jim Harbaugh encouraged NFL teams to give free-agent quarterback Colin Kaepernick a chance for the 2020 season.

Harbaugh, who served as Kaepernick's coach with the San Francisco 49ers from 2011 through 2014, spoke highly of his former player in an interview on ESPN (via Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk).

"My personal opinion and really advice to NFL teams is, there's only one way to answer these questions, one way to find out, and that's Colin signs somewhere," Harbaugh said. "My advice is he'd be worth your time and that NFL team will be very happy."

He added: "Colin Kaepernick is a friend, he's a brother, he's a great teammate. I love Colin. I think he's an unbelievably talented football player."

Harbaugh and Kaepernick enjoyed success while together with the Niners, highlighted by an appearance in Super Bowl XLVII, a 34-31 loss to the Baltimore Ravens.

The dual-threat quarterback fell out of favor in San Francisco under Jim Tomsula in 2015, but he received a second chance when Chip Kelly was hired the following year.

He threw 16 touchdowns with just four interceptions across 12 appearances (four starts) in 2016, but it was his decision to kneel during the national anthem to protest racial injustice and police brutality that garnered the most headlines and sparked a widespread movement.

"I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color," he told NFL Media's Steve Wyche at the time. "To me, this is bigger than football, and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder."

Kaepernick became the league's most polarizing figure because of the protests, and he remained unsigned after hitting the free-agent market in 2017. It led to a collusion lawsuit against NFL owners, which was settled out of court in February 2019.

There have been renewed calls for the 32-year-old Wisconsin native to receive a contract for 2020 amid the nationwide Black Lives Matter protests after George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, was killed while in Minneapolis Police custody in May.

Michael Silver of the NFL Network reported in late June there's "legitimate interest" from a couple of teams. So far that hasn't resulted in a deal, though.

It's impossible to know what to expect from Kaepernick if he's eventually signed. He hasn't taken a meaningful snap in nearly four years, and it's likely the preseason will be reduced or eliminated because of the coronavirus pandemic, limiting the quarterback's opportunity to get back up to game speed.

That said, his 88.9 career passer rating would rank 17th among active QBs if signed, and he added 2,300 rushing yards and 13 scores on the ground across six years in San Francisco.