NFL Tickets
Earlier in the day today, the Cleveland Browns and Houston Texans were linked to a rumor that they were interested in trading for San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick. It only took a few hours before reports came out to the contrary, stating that both Cleveland and Houston had no interest in making a deal like that.
Both teams are absolutely right to not want a trade for Kaepernick, and it shouldn’t be surprising that they’re not. It’s not that either team couldn’t use Kaepernick, it’s that neither will likely have to worry about needing to trade for him. Even though Kaepernick would be better off staying in Chip Kelly’s offense, he wants out so the 49ers may wind up releasing him.
I think the landscape is set up right now for the 49ers to land a quarterback in the draft; they’re really in prime position to do so. At No. 7 overall they will, right now, have a great chance at landing Jared Goff. Goff played exclusively out of the shotgun in college, much like he’d be doing in Kelly’s offense, and he’d be far cheaper than Kaepernick’s eight-figure salary. The 49ers are in full rebuild mode right now, and they need all the space they can get. Remember that Kaepernick’s contract was set up specifically so the team could cut ties with little damage, so it’s an easy and sensible option.
But like I said, Kaepernick would make sense for both teams. Cleveland, well, Cleveland needs all the offensive talent they can get. Kaepernick would be what they hoped Johnny Manziel would become, a dual-threat passer who keeps defense keyed on him. It’ll depend if new coach Hue Jackson thinks they same way — with the No. 2 pick in the draft they’ve got Carson Wentz if they want him.
Meanwhile, Houston is in a somewhat different boat. They could use a dynamic quarterback badly, but they’re light years ahead of Cleveland in that sense and they’re not in prime draft position to draft one. Bill O’Brien might have his sights set on his former college passer Christian Hackenberg, but I don’t know that he can pull the trigger on him in the first. And by the time their second pick is up, Hackenberg is probably off the board. But Kaepernick isn’t a long-term answer for anyone right now, and that’s what Houston really needs. Cleveland needs a talented bridge player, whereas Houston needs a franchise pick.
But no matter what way they both decide to go with their quarterback needs, they won’t need to give anything up to get Kaepernick. They’ll have to fight over him in free agency if anything, and they’d be silly to pay anything more than that for his services.
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