Seven years have passed since Colin Kaepernick suited up in an NFL uniform, but the controversial quarterback is keeping his comeback hopes alive.
According to NFL reporter Jordan Schultz, Kaepernick’s camp has reached out to the Jets about joining their team after Aaron Rodgers went down with a season-ending achilles injury on the fourth play of his New York debut on Monday night.
The 35-year-old Kaepernick has seemingly been blackballed by the league after he caused a stir by kneeling during the national anthem in his final season with the 49ers in 2016. Since leaving the NFL as a 29-year-old, Kaepernick has accused the league of collusion and the two sides settled a grievance out of court in 2019, while he has dedicated his time towards social causes.
The Jets pulled off a 22-16 overtime win over the Buffalo Bills, but the season opener was marred by Rodgers’ injury. The franchise had Super Bowl aspirations with the future Hall of Famer, but now all those fans in the No. 8 jerseys don’t know if they’ll ever see Rodgers suit up for the team again.
For now, Zach Wilson is back with the first-team offense after he posted a 7-14 record with a 15-to-18 touchdown-to-interception ratio his first two seasons. The former No. 2 overall pick has failed to live up to his draft status and now bears the weight of some heavy expectations. In Monday’s win, Wilson was underwhelming, going 14-of-21 for 140 yards with one touchdown – featuring a spectacular catch by Garrett Wilson – along with an interception.
New York will likely promote Tim Boyle from the practice squad this week to be Wilson’s backup, but they currently don't have a healthy third quarterback on the roster. If Kaepernick and the Jets somehow come to an agreement, it’d be hard to see him being anything beyond a practice squad QB until he got up to speed.
This is just the latest comeback attempt from Kaepernick.
In April 2022, former 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh hosted Kap for a public workout at The Big House following Michigan's spring game. Kaepernick worked out for the Las Vegas Raiders in May 2022 with a chance to supplant backups Nick Mullens and Jared Stidham, but his session was a “disaster” according to former NFL player and Raider Warren Sapp.
"I heard it was one of the worst workouts ever," Sapp told VladTV.
The NFL also organized a 2019 workout for Kaepernick in the Atlanta area for 25 team scouts, but he pulled out at the last second, reportedly due to issues with the liability waiver and private nature of the workout. He ended up doing a public session in front of seven teams at a local high school.
"I came out here to show you in front of everybody we have nothing to hide," Kaepernick said at the time. "I've been ready. I'm staying ready. I continue to be ready."
Kaepernick burst onto the scene in 2012 with the 49ers in his second season, leading the team to the Super Bowl after taking over for an injured Alex Smith in the regular season. The dual-threat quarterback set an NFL quarterback rushing record with his 181-yard, two touchdown performance against the Green Bay Packers in the Divisional Round that season.
Aside from the media circus that would follow Kaepernick, perhaps teams are worried that his 35-year-old legs don’t move quite as fast as they used to. It seems like a longshot that the Jets would take a flier on Kaepernick, but he’s not letting go just yet.