Houston Texans May Be Only Hope For Kaepernick Trade
By Erik Lambert
After weeks of belief that Chip Kelly and the San Francisco 49ers were set at quarterback, intent on having a straight-up competition between Blaine Gabbert and Colin Kaepernick, the latter threw a wrench into the plans when his agents officially requested permission to seek a trade.
Kaepernick's agents are telling reporters they've requested permission to seek a trade https://t.co/7XE6qa6fLK
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) February 26, 2016
The reasoning behind this situation is unclear. Nobody knows for sure if Kaepernick just has no desire to player for Kelly or the 49ers anymore, or whether it’s a power play of some kind. Truthfully this is something that may have been building for the past couple months.
"“Whether Kaepernick’s agents have actually requested permission to seek a trade or have simply told reporters that they have, the cat is now out of the bag — if it wasn’t already. Before the Super Bowl, the New York Daily News reported that Kaepernick wants out, and that he’d like to play for the Jets.”"
Unfortunately the list of teams that can make a trade happen is not that extensive. Keep in mind that a trade of this magnitude is about two key issues: draft picks given up and Kaepernick’s $14.3 million salary.
With just a $14.3 million salary teams would take a chance on Kaepernick the same way they did Bradford #49ers
— Jason_OTC (@Jason_OTC) February 25, 2016
Alex Smith was traded for 2 second round picks so thats probably what would be the price SF would want.
— Jason_OTC (@Jason_OTC) February 25, 2016
Not a lot of teams who are in the hunt for a quarterback might be willing to pay that price since most of them have alternatives they’d find acceptable and the fact that Kaepernick didn’t exactly finish his past season in San Francisco strong. In fact, examining the field of possible interested teams, only one sticks out as a viable option.
The Houston Texans.
They have upwards of $32 million in salary cap space going into 2016, so they have the money to handle Kaepernick’s contract. On top of that they are in desperate need of an upgrade over Brian Hoyer but are stuck with the 22nd overall pick, pushing them out of range of the top quarterbacks in the draft. They more than any team might see the benefits of taking a chance on someone like Kaepernick rather than reach on a rookie from a class considered thin at quarterback.
Whether the 49ers open the door to this happening remains the unanswered question.