The San Francisco 49ers and Denver Broncos appear willing to move forward with a trade that would send disgruntled quarterback Colin Kaepernick to the Broncos.
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the two sides have the parameters worked out here. The lingering issue remains Kaepernick’s unwillingness to restructure his contract:
“San Francisco and Denver have the parameters of an agreement in principle on a trade for Colin Kaepernick, sources said, but before any deal can be completed, the quarterback and the Broncos still have to agree on a restructured contract, and the two sides have not been close,” Schefter reported.
Schefter went on to report that Kaepernick and the Broncos are still talking in an attempt to see if they can come to some sort of a common ground.
This fits into a previous report earlier on Saturday indicating that the quarterback has met with Denver’s brass twice over the past two weeks to discuss a restructure.
The interesting dynamic here is that this report suggests some type of a mid-round pick would head back to San Francisco in a deal. That’s a far cry from the team’s previous asking price of a second-round pick.
Kaepernick’s $11.9 million base salary for the 2016 season became guaranteed earlier this week. His cap number currently sits at $15.9 million.
After losing Brock Osweiler to the Houston Texans in free agency and seeing Peyton Manning retire, the defending champs are in need of a viable starting quarterback.
And while the team did trade for Mark Sanchez last month, Kaepernick would be viewed as a dramatic upgrade there.
Something should be worked out one way or another by the time this month’s NFL draft concludes. Though, both sides would like to finalize an agreement before then.