Dallas Cowboys: Is Colin Kaepernick an option after Seattle passing?
After the Seattle Seahawks reportedly passed on quarterback Colin Kaepernick, could the Dallas Cowboys become his next suitor?
Not too long ago, the talk seemed to be that former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick was going to wind up as the backup to Russell Wilson with the Seattle Seahawks. Despite him taking a visit, talks never seemed to get off the ground.
Now sources are saying that no deal will be happening as the one-time Super Bowl starter is still on the open market. Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk had this to say regarding latest on the Kaepernick-to-Seattle situation:
Pat Kirwan of SiriusXM NFL Radio said today that he doesn't expect the Seahawks to sign Kaepernick. That's particularly noteworthy because Kirwan has a long and close relationship with Seahawks coach Pete Carroll, dating to their time together when Carroll was defensive coordinator and then head coach of the Jets from 1990 to 1994.
With Seattle out of the running, could the controversial signal-caller find a suitor with the Dallas Cowboys? It could make sense as Dallas currently only has Kellen Moore as an experienced backup behind starter Dak Prescott and could stand to upgrade
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From a pure football standpoint, it makes sense. The 29-year old quarterback has 58 starts, which is more than anyone on Dallas' roster at the moment has. He's also been a decent player. Kaepernick has 59.8 percent of his passes for 12,271 yards with 72 touchdowns and just 30 picks. He's also coming off a season with 16 touchdowns and only four interceptions.
The 6-4, 225-pounder also has been effective with his legs. To this point in his career, Kaepernick has 2,300 yards rushing (while averaging 6.1 per attempt) and has added another 13 scores on the ground.
Players with this kind of pedigree are rarely available this late in the offseason, but this is no ordinary player. Kaepernick created a firestorm in 2016 when he chose to kneel for the national anthem in protest, in addition to other decisions regarding his pre-game clothing that were met with criticism.
On top of this, there were questions in the past about his maturity — like when he wore a Miami Dolphins hat, but refused to listen to teammates who advised him to stop being defiant towards fans who weren't thrilled with the move.
These off-field concerns are the reason he has no job at the moment, whether that's fair or not. Perhaps a team like Dallas may decide that those issues can be overlooked in order to get them a player who can run the same offense as Prescott, while also serving as a big improvement over Moore.
Surely, there will be plenty of fans who hate the idea, but it makes sense. The question is whether or not the Cowboys would be willing to bring in a guy who would bring even more media attention to Dallas, and not all of it positive.