NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is encouraging interested teams to sign free agent quarterback Colin Kaepernick.
Goodell, in an interview with ESPN, said he supports getting the 32-year-old Kaepernick back onto an NFL roster, but ultimately it would require an interested partner to get it done.
"If he wants to resume his career in the NFL, then obviously it's gonna take a team to make that decision," Goodell said. "But I welcome that, support a club making that decision, and encourage them to do that."
Goodell's comments on Kaepernick's situation came about a week after he apologized for the league's years-long mishandling of peaceful player protests, though he didn't specifically address the former 49ers quarterback in those remarks.
Kapernick lasted played in an NFL game in January 2017, the last game of the 2016 season. Late last year he held a private workout, with seven teams reportedly in attendance, though no offer or deal were known to have come of it.
One of the teams in attendance was the Seattle Seahawks. Last week, Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said he regretted not signing Kaepernick when they held talks in 2017 and again in 2018. It was reported the Seahawks called off a scheduled workout with Kaepernick in 2018 because he wouldn't agree to stop kneeling.
Goodell said the league would support Kaepernick's activism regardless of whether a playing deal worked out, and invited him to help steer the league's efforts.