fbpx
Skip to main content

Report: NFL wants Raiders to sign Kaepernick after Rooney ruling

Colin Kaepernick

The NFL recently ruled that the Oakland Raiders complied with the Rooney Rule ahead of the official announcement that Jon Gruden was to be their next head coach.

That ruling was met with plenty of eye-rolls, and rightfully so. There were reports that Gruden and owner Mark Davis had an understanding he’d be the guy well before the Raiders interviewed USC offensive coordinator Tee Martin and Raiders tight end coach Bobby Johnson.

Whatever your opinion on the Rooney Rule, it seems clear that Oakland at the very least only had the interviews with those two minority coaches with a nod, nod, wink, wink mentality, knowing it was a sham.

Now we’re hearing some interesting scuttlebutt on this topic from Mike Freeman of Bleacher Report, who says he’s hearing the league went easy on Oakland because it wants the Raiders to sign Colin Kaepernick — I scratch your back, you scratch my back. At the center of it is the league’s desire for the collusion case being pursued by Kaepernick against the owners to go away.

https://twitter.com/mikefreemanNFL/status/955863232207577088

https://twitter.com/mikefreemanNFL/status/955863240097062913

https://twitter.com/mikefreemanNFL/status/955863248041140224

Now, as Freeman noted later in his thread, he cannot prove the league is trying to strong arm Oakland into signing Kaepernick in exchange for a favorable ruling but said, “I strongly believe it did [happen].”

What’s really interesting is that we’ve already covered one story from a Bay Area beat writer, who believes the Raiders will sign Kaepernick. And obviously, if the quarterback were signed, then he’d have no way to continue pursuing the collusion case against the league owners.

This is a very interesting rumor, and one that bears watching in the upcoming months.

Mentioned in this article:

More About: