"He was blackballed" - Stephen A. Smith accuses NFL teams of plotting against Colin Kaepernick

We haven't seen Colin Kaepernick in the NFL since the 2016 season and yet he remains very relevant and highly controversial to this day. Kaepernick hasn't stopped making an effort to return to the NFL since 2016 and it starts to make you think that Stephen A. Smith is speaking the truth about Kaepernick being blackballed out of the league.

On Thursday's edition of "First Take," Stephen A. and Ryan Clark debated whether or not the NFL should acknowledge Colin Kaepernick's recent ploy to return to the field. When asked about whether he should receive a tryout, Smith was quick to respond:

"He should have been gotten a tryout...He was blackballed. It was unfair."

Smith then responded with what many of us are thinking at home and that is there are many teams with poor backup quarterbacks that you can't argue are better than Colin would be:

"Geno Smith was your backup quarterback in Seattle last year. Mason Rudolph is the backup quarterback with the Pittsburgh Steelers...Chase Daniels...and Colin Kaepernick still doesn't have a job."

In retrospect, you can point to half the league right now and see a problem at backup quarterback. There's a saying that the most important player on the roster is your starting quarterback. The second-most important is your back-up quarterback.

It's no secret that Colin Kaepernick has been shunned and blacklisted from the NFL, even though it's never been publicly stated. The NFL did reach out a few years ago after settling Colin's case against them and set up a private tryout in Atlanta for the entire world to see. But Kaepernick saw challenges with the tryout and decided to take control of it and move the location at the last minute, meaning very few were able to attend or watch it live. It left a bad taste in the league's mouth and now teams will have to personally reach out to conduct a workout.

Some teams would be wise to do so.

Who should reach out to Colin Kaepernick?

The free-agency pool of quarterbacks was quite thin this year, but some teams did improve the positon with trades. Still, many teams have reached in free agency to sign a veteran starter or backup, but some can still upgrade with Kaepernick. Stephen A. Smith mentioned the Seattle Seahawks and Pittsburgh Steelers on his show.

Seattle traded Russell Wilson to the Denver Broncos and are left with Geno Smith as the quarterback. Sure, they can use their new draft pick to add a young starter to the roster, but it would still be smart to sign Kaepernick to fill a role similar to what Ryan Fitzpatrick has done over the last few years. Plus, Tyler Lockett has been seen working out with the quarterback recently, which has sparked rumors.

The Steelers went out and "reached" for Mitchell Trubisky to be their starter in 2022. While it could work out for them, Mason Rudolph and Dwayne Haskins aren't the best backups in case Trubisky fails.

The Carolina Panthers and New Orleans Saints are projected to go after a quarterback in the first round of the draft, but if one of them doesn't land a signal-caller, then Colin Kaepernick could be on a plane for a tryout the next day.