Colin Kaepernick to the CFL? BC Lions add him to negotiation list
Could Colin Kaepernick end up in the CFL? A BC Lions spokesperson has confirmed a report from TSN’s Farhan Lalji, who said that the team has put Kaepernick on their negotiation list.
The @BCLions have put Colin Kaepernick on their negotiation list. @SportsCentre pic.twitter.com/QT0lw8efqr
— Farhan Lalji (@FarhanLaljiTSN) September 28, 2023
The 35-year-old quarterback hasn’t suited up for a game since 2016, when he last played in the NFL for the San Francisco 49ers.
Kaepernick drew headlines during his last NFL season for kneeling during the American national anthem before games in protest of police brutality and racial inequality in the United States. Many have alleged that the Milwaukee, Wisconsin, native has been blackballed by NFL teams ever since.
If he wasn’t good enough to be a starting quarterback, Kaepernick certainly could have been a backup, but still, no NFL team offered him a contract.
So what about the Canadian Football League?
The Lions now have exclusive rights to negotiate a CFL contract with Kaepernick.
BC is currently in a first-place tie in the West Division at 10-4, and Vernon Adams Jr. is second in league passing yards (3,547) and passing touchdowns (25), so there’s no obvious immediate need for a new quarterback.
But you can never have too many good QBs.
This isn’t the first time a CFL team has added Kaepernick to their negotiation list. The Montreal Alouettes did the same back in 2017, but nothing ever came of it.
Kaepernick worked out with the Las Vegas Raiders in May 2022. It was his “first workout in years” for an NFL team, according to NFL insider Ian Rapoport. The arm strength and conditioning of the 6-foot-4 quarterback was good at that time, added ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.
Five years earlier, in 2017, Kaepernick met with the Seattle Seahawks but didn’t sign a contract. Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll later said in 2020 that he regretted not signing him.