The seemingly never-ending drama surrounding San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick maybe be on the verge of taking a completely new turn.
According to Bleacher Report’s Jason Cole, there is a conflict within the 49ers’ front office about whether to keep or drop the enigmatic signal caller.
NFL sources say there's conflict in 49ers front office on whether to keep or drop Colin Kaepernick pic.twitter.com/eiqW3FK2dr
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) September 14, 2016
General manager Trent Baalke reportedly wants to move on from Kaepernick, a quarterback that led the team to two conference titles and a Super Bowl appearance.
Meanwhile, first-year head coach Chip Kelly seems to be a fan of Kaepernick’s and would rather keep the now backup quarterback around.
This rift extends much further than the national anthem controversy that has surrounded Kaepernick since one game into the preseason. And in reality, it likely has very little to do with what’s become somewhat of a movement among players in the NFL.
Kaepernick was benched for current starter Blaine Gabbert halfway through the 2015 season. He then requested a trade from San Francisco following the season. When a deal wasn’t able to be worked out, Kaepernick came back to the 49ers. At that point, he seemed to be a long shot to make the roster.
But once the national anthem controversy took over, all of the attention turned away from what seemed to be a sizable rift between certain factions of the 49ers surrounding Kaepernick.
From a football perspective, it now makes little sense to get rid of Kaepernick. He’s guaranteed the remainder of his contract this season. And despite a blowout 28-0 win over the Los Angeles Rams on Monday, Gabbert didn’t look too sharp under center.
Kelly’s reasoning could be all football related. Meanwhile, San Francisco’s brass might be thinking about the PR of it all.