Which NFL team makes sense for Colin Kaepernick to sign with?
Charles Robinson and Terez Paylor discuss which NFL team might be a good fit for Colin Kaepernick. Subscribe to the Yahoo Sports NFL Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Video Transcript
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TEREZ PAYLOR: We have a question from one of our listeners, @notjessetyler says, hey, guys, big fan of yours from Australia here, and longtime Niners fan. My question for you both, is if Kaepernick were to be signed by a team this off-season, how could a team go about it without being seen as a PR stunt?
CHARLES ROBINSON: I mean, that's one of like a handful of questions that, a team's going to have to just deal with the optics of it, and answer it however they answer. Because remember, there's another element too of Colin Kaepernick. Three seasons have gone without him touching a football. There is a reality. Not going to say this is going to happen, but what if you sign him and Kaep comes out and he just, he just done have it?
I think that's part of the very difficult math for some teams on Kaepernick, because as soon as a team signs him, what's going to happen is, there's going to be an ovation of the people who are super into Kaepernick's camp are going to be like, this is awesome. There's going to be a camp that's going to go, ah, this is all politics and it's BS and this is all just a PR stunt. I do not have any sympathy for any NFL teams at this stage, because.
TEREZ PAYLOR: Yeah, I don't care.
CHARLES ROBINSON: Y'all create it.
TEREZ PAYLOR: Right.
CHARLES ROBINSON: Y'all create it. If the guy had been signed in 2017, none of this [BLEEP] happens. You created what you created. So it's a really good question, and it's, I don't think, at least I personally don't think there is an easy answer. Do you think there's an easy answer to that?
TEREZ PAYLOR: If there's a need there. Like, if there's a real need for a backup quarterback, yeah. You know, one thing I think is interesting about it, is that we mentioned this earlier. COVID could wipe out a quarterback room quickly.
CHARLES ROBINSON: Yes.
TEREZ PAYLOR: You know?
CHARLES ROBINSON: Absolutely.
TEREZ PAYLOR: Say it were to hit a quarterback room in one of these 32 markets. All of a sudden, you have a heavy play action-based offense, you use zone read stuff. And most importantly, you're a team with expectations, right? You're a team where you're expected to win. There's a scenario where if you sign Colin Kaepernick, there wouldn't be a PR stunt. There's just a need there.
You know, I kind of feel like it would have to be that, because it's not an easy scenario that you laid out. Like it's not an easy scenario for teams. But I think we both know, like he should be in the league. There are some bad quarterbacks in this league. Guys that don't have a tenth of his football resume. This is a guy that was in a Super Bowl.
CHARLES ROBINSON: Yeah.
TEREZ PAYLOR: And multiple championship games. I mean, actually, the league has progressed schematically to like better fit him. He should fit somewhere. He should.
CHARLES ROBINSON: I'm telling you, I'm telling you, it's the Ravens. The Ravens.
TEREZ PAYLOR: That will be awesome.
CHARLES ROBINSON: 100% are the right team for him. They are the right team for him. And I'm telling you this, because I know for a fact, that John Harbaugh thinks a lot of Colin Kaepernick as a player. Or at least did. And I know this, because John Harbaugh has said it publicly, because his brother Jim thinks a lot of Colin Kaepernick, who coached him, obviously, for the 49ers.
Because his father, Jack, thinks a lot of Colin Kaepernick as a player. Greg Roman, who's the offensive coordinator, was the peak of Colin Kaepernick's career as a player. The offense they run right now makes sense. I do think you need insurance behind Lamar Jackson.
TEREZ PAYLOR: Right.
CHARLES ROBINSON: Because Lamar.
TEREZ PAYLOR: They have expectations.
CHARLES ROBINSON: Yeah, and they have big expectations. And like, let's be real. Lamar Jackson doesn't shy away from anything. Like, he plays balls out and, like could Lamar Jackson get dinged? Absolutely. Like there's no question. He plays too hard to not, he's not out there protecting himself, OK? It's not going to be that guy. He's going to play his ass off.
And so I think, yeah, like it's not a bad thing to have some depth there. And I think, listen, I've seen RG3 the last several years. I think I have been pleasantly surprised at what RG3 has been able to put himself. You know, he's gotten himself back together. He's gotten his career back together as a backup. I think Colin Kaepernick could challenge him.
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