After being shunned for five years by the NFL, Colin Kaepernick finally had a chance to try and make a return to the league on Wednesday when the Raiders brought him in for a workout.
Although Kaepernick doesn’t have any contract offers from anyone yet, it’s still very possible that he will return to the NFL this year. On the one hand, the Raiders were actually “impressed” with Kaepernick during practice, according to NFL.comwhich means there is definitely a possibility that they will end up signing him. According to ESPNthe Raiders were particularly impressed with Kaepernick’s arm strength and general conditioning.
Despite the rave reviews, Raiders coach Josh McDaniels hasn’t hinted at whether his team might end up signing the free agent quarterback, telling reporters he’s not talking about anyone who isn’t currently doing part of the team.
“We’ve brought in tons of people for practices,” McDaniels added during his Thursday press conference, “If there’s an opportunity to improve the squad, we’ll take it.”
If the Raiders decide to pass on Kaepernick, the quarterback might actually have a few other options. The Las Vegas practice invite might have opened the floodgates for Kaepernick, who was apparently being watched by multiple teams before agreeing to throw himself past the Raiders this week. According to Pro Football Talk, there were at least TWO other NFL teams interested in Kaepernick before he accepted training for the Raiders.
Although we don’t know the identities of the two teams, we might find out soon. Based on how Kaepernick’s first practice went, it won’t be surprising if he gets invited to another one.
The fact that Kaepernick’s training went well probably won’t come as a huge surprise to anyone who has trained with him this offseason. For the past few months, the former 49ers quarterback has essentially been on a national shooting tour and he’s seemed to impress everyone he comes across, including several NFL players.
Seahawks receiver Tyler Lockett caught passes from Kaepernick in March and said the QB is “ready” for an NFL comeback.
Bears QB Justin Fields also pitched with Kaepernick this offseason and came away impressed.
“It was actually my first time meeting him,” Fields said of their mid-March workout, via SI.com. “It was cool meeting him, of course. He’s an icon. It was great meeting him and working with him. He looked pretty good. He looked good, yeah.”
More recently, 49ers rookie receiver Danny Gray was thrilled with Kaepernick. Gray worked with Kaepernick in Dallas earlier this year and was blown away by what he saw.
“He’s got some kind of bazooka,” Gray said earlier this month. “That workout was pretty awesome.”
Basically, everyone who saw Kaepernick kick off this offseason, including the Raiders, came away impressed. That doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll land a job in the NFL, but it does mean it won’t be at all surprising if we see him make a return to football after five years out of the league.
The quarterback hasn’t had a shot in the NFL since the 49ers’ 2016 regular season finale. While in San Francisco, Kaepernick thrived under Jim Harbaugh, going 25-14 as a starter while leading the 49ers to the Super Bowl in 2012 and the NFC Championship in 2013. However, he struggled after the departure of Harbaugh, going just 3-16 with Jim Tomsula (2015) and Chip Kelly (2016). With the right coach, perhaps Kaepernick could prove he still has a lot to do.