What do you think the NFL should do about Colin Kaepernick?

As far as I know, he has never publicly expressed a wish to be picked up. Other players are speaking up about him, but I have not heard what he wants from his own mouth.

NFL shouldn’t do anything. The league is made up of 20+ teams with individual managements; each owner makes his/her own decision.

I think that if there is a blacklist, then it’s probably illegal and Kapernick can sue. There must be some team that can use a player of Kapernick’s caliber.

Goodell can’t force any team to do anything.

@elbanditoroso describes the problem. It isn’t the NFL, it is the 32 owners who have essentially colluded to not hire him. But if you ask anyone of them, it is not because of his stance, but rather that they don’t need him.

The NFL cannot force any team to pick up any player. Even if the whole NFL Players Union made a statement by not standing or turning around on opening day, a team can’t be forced to pick him up.

And, while there are worse quarterbacks working this season, he did not have a very good record the last couple years. He had one great portion of a season a few years back, and that was it.

Ultimately, the NFL is an entertainment organization, and their money is made with eyeballs on the screen.

Now, if they think a greater number of their profitable eyeballs come in the form of people who support violence against black men by people in a position of power (and, well, what do you think football IS?) is OK, than a good business decision would be to let him fall by the wayside and pick up someone else.

If they think they’ll lose more eyeballs not showing him than showing him, they should keep him.

Personally, I don’t think it makes much of a difference either way. If they put him somewhere, the people who are pissed at him will forget about him by next season. If they don’t put him somewhere, the people who are pissed about that will forget by next season.

As long as they are still allowed to encourage people to destroy their bodies for 17 days a year for buckets of money, I really don’t think it matters. Fans are fickle in the short term, but they have no memory.

@Muad_Dib makes some good statements, particularly paragraph 2.

I am thinking of Michael Vick, who was one heck of a good quarterback. Then he got into the dog-fighting (and betting on dog-fighting) scandal. It didn’t matter how good a QB he was; the embarrassment to the team and to the NFL was enough to get him punished. (and he went to jail, but that’s another thing).

Vick was an embarrassment to the NFL and to the Falcons.

Well, the guy tortured and killed dogs for profit. It’s not like he beat his wife or killed a person or anything. THOSE people can still be valued American athletes.

I have no stake in this game – I don’t watch football, and in the chance I’m at someone’s house and it’s on, like Super Bowl, I have no idea what I’m watching. I think I’ve said on here in the past that to me, football just looks like people crashing into each other. I know there’s big money in it, though.

I would have been very happy if Michael Vick never worked again. I deplore animal abuse.

He’s a functional QB. He isn’t great. If he was great, he’d be picked up. If somebody needed a back up, they would pick him up.
But he isn’t good enough to hire and inherit his controversy. The NFL is losing audience as it is, without inviting more folks to turn it off.
Sort of like Tim Tebow. Just not quite good enough to overcome the negative publicity.

The truth is not that good. His strength was in running the ball but all the other teams have figured him out. He’s not an accurate passer and can’t read the defenses. He opted out of his contract with the 40ers because he didn’t want to play backup. Now he’s got nothing. There are reports that he turned down one backup offer which was one more than he deserved. If he was a good quarterback there would be no shortage of offers. He’s not. The kneeling issue is an annoyance but not a deal breaker. His quality of play is the deal breaker.

@josie – I disagree in just one point. Tebow sucked, big time. He was never NFL caliber.

Kapernick is no Tom Brady, but he’s not the worst, and far better than Tebow ever would have been.

1. I think every NFL player has the right to protest as they choose just like everybody else in America.

2. I would be very surprised if an NFL team in desperate need of a quarterback with Kaepernick’s natural gifts would care about the protests.

3, Karpernick’s level of play really tailed off the last couple of years, and it may be that no team wants him.

It’s a screwed up situation.

I’m an avid fan of the NFL, and follow every team. Kap is definitely more talented than a lot of back up qbs that are currently employed. He’s young, and has obvious athletic talent. His accuracy issues could be fixed by coaching better footwork, and release. He did play in the Super Bowl.

The worst thing about it, is that other active players are kneeling too. But they aren’t jobless. There is a movement going on now where a lot of players are doing some sort of anthem statement. The Charlottesville incident has added fuel to the movement.

My team is the Raiders. Marshawn Lynch has sat during the anthem for the first 2 preseason games. Last game, Derek Carr placed his hand on Khalil Mack’s shoulder during the anthem. DC said it wasn’t a protest, but a sign of inity/solidarity between the races.

The Seahawk’s Michael Bennet was joined by a white player too.

The Browns had several players protesting last week.

The Eagles have a couple too.

Kap got fucked here…

He is taking the brunt of the bad press.

With so many other players contributing, it’s unfair to single him out.

Most importantly, people need to understand that these players are risking their careers, by doing this. They have my full support.

My guess is Kap will get signed eventually. He could start for the Jets this week, their qbs are so bad…

The NFL is in the entertainment business to make money. Looks like Kaepernick’s behavior is not good for business. If the cost of keeping him is higher that the benefit then he must go.

He has played in the NFL for three+ years. He will be fine with the 25K a month pension. And his brain won’t look like a scrambled egg.