From Super Bowl appearance to NFL obscurity: Does Colin Kaepernick deserve to return to the big league? 

Colin Kaepernick has been cruelly robbed of his NFL career due to reasons unrelated to play on the field, which is inarguable. With hopes of a comeback reinvigorated, it’s worth looking at the facts and figures of his time with the San Francisco 49ers.

Teams have shied away from the outspoken 34-year-old because of his political beliefs and how he essentially kick-started the movement of taking a knee during the national anthem.

Yet, teams since then have had ample opportunities to offer the quarterback a route back into the NFL, but none ever have.

Given the distinct possibility that this may change in 2022, it’s worth asking whether Colin Kaepernick deserves to return to the NFL?

Kaepernick led a San Francisco 49ers team to the Super Bowl and was their best player, fully deserving of the sizable contract extension they gave him, and this is usually enough to grant someone a golden ticket to endless chances in the NFL.

There is something that muddies the waters in this debate, and it is the impact of his political stance on teams.

Whether we like it or not, or think it is abhorrent, the moment Kaepernick is signed by an NFL franchise, they might lose, perhaps, between 20-30% of their fanbase.

Boycotts begin, merchandise sales slump, ticket sales decrease and negative PR on social media rises.

The political climate in the United States is too fractious for a Kaepernick signing to not be used as a political football (excuse the pun) by both sides, and that is damaging to a franchise.

Unfortunately, this creates a lot of talk from either side about Kaepernick’s NFL status and whether or not he should be in the league, but very few then look at the numbers of his career, merely attaching themselves to whatever answer suits the side of the political aisle they are on.

Worse players have been given chances

What has made things harder to accept the choices made by NFL teams during the former 49er's absence from the league is the fact that much worse players have been given chances to come back.

Blaine Gabbert was signed by the Tennessee Titans in April 2018, despite having thrown just 44 touchdowns in his career.

Geno Smith was given multiple more chances with the New York Giants, Los Angeles Chargers and Seattle Seahawks.

The Las Vegas Raiders signed Nathan Peterman in December 2018, while Cody Kessler arrived in Philadelphia in May 2019.

Kaepernick’s statistics with the 49ers trump them all, and it’s not even close, but he simply wasn’t considered at all.

Of course, most of these players were signed to work as backup quarterbacks, only playing in case of an emergency, and it’s easy to make the case that his salary demands have been too high for a backup role.

Kaepernick was fantastic at times in San Francisco

People often forget just how explosive Kaepernick was with the Niners, beating out Alex Smith and taking his starting spot before leading the team to the Super Bowl.

The style of aggressive running he had and accurate short passing would become the predominant style of offense in the NFL as the years went by, yet it’s difficult to argue against the fact that he brought it back into prominence after the Manning/Brady era.

In six seasons in San Francisco, Kaepernick threw for 12,271 yards and 72 touchdown passes. He also had a career pass completion percentage of 59.8%, which is just below average.

Kaepernick’s best two seasons came in 2013 and 2014, where he didn’t miss a single game and threw 21 and 19 touchdown passes respectively.

In terms of yards, he threw 3,197 in 2013 and 3,369 in 2014. The reality is that this isn’t exceptional for a starting quarterback in the NFL.

It’s a good return, but nothing more. To put this into context, in 2013, the Niners QB threw for the 20th most yards in the league. Considering there are only 32 teams, that’s really low.

He was 17th in touchdown passes in 2013, behind Carson Palmer, Nick Foles and Andy Dalton.

In 2014, he was 17th best in terms of yards, while his return of 19 touchdown passes was also the 17th highest in the NFL for that season.

There is a continuing trend here in Kaepernick’s career, which often gets lost in the shuffle of drama and newspaper headlines… even in the very best two years of his NFL career, he was only an average-to-steady performer. These were not high-caliber numbers, and he never once got voted into the Pro Bowl.

While fantastic at times on the field, particularly when rushing, consistency was a problem for #7, and once the added pressure of his political standings came, it was a recipe for disaster.

There isn’t a clear football answer

There are multiple strands to the question: should Kaepernick be in the NFL? If you were to say there are quarterbacks worse than him holding backup places in the league, you would be right. If you were to say political pressure is keeping him out of the NFL, you’d be right. However, if you were to say that Kaepernick wouldn’t be a starting QB for any of the 32 NFL teams, you’d probably be right, too.

Teams that are strong have their franchise quarterbacks, while teams that are rebuilding and reloading are focusing on younger talents to sustain them for years at the QB position.

The former University of Nevada star doesn’t neatly fit into either category in 2022, and his reported salary demands for a backup are just nonsensical.

It’s heart-breaking that an athlete has lost the best years of his career due to merely standing up for what is right and drawing awareness to the very real problem of equality and social justice.

Colin Kaepernick should be in the NFL, there are no doubts about that, but it is also clear to see why teams haven't signed him. He doesn’t have the talent to start for a team, he is inconsistent and may have lost his explosive running power given he is now 34, and any team that signs him will have to deal with immense, if unfair, scrutiny.

Is a backup quarterback worth that? No. Is that right? No. It's almost gotten to a point where a team signing him would gain more for his presence and leadership in the locker room than any tangible on-field advantage.

Make no mistake, he is a figure that many NFL players will respect, particularly younger guys who have been inspired by his actions. If you’re the Kansas City Chiefs, is there anyone you’d want more than Kaepernick to step in should Patrick Mahomes get a season-ending injury?

However, in asking for a starting QB salary, such a return is a non-starter. If that changes, then he could return, but until that does, he’s merely a backup-level signal caller pricing himself out of the market.