The Cleveland Browns are one of the few teams that had in the past expressed interest in free agent quarterback Colin Kaepernick. In fact, they were in trade discussions with the San Francisco 49ers about the signal caller around this time last year.
Things change. Cleveland doesn’t appear to be in the market for a quarterback after picking up Brock Osweiler from the Houston Texans in a trade earlier this month. Meanwhile, Kaepernick himself has drawn very little interest on the open market.
Now, speaking about the possibility of his team looking at Kaepernick as a veteran option, Browns head coach Hue Jackson pretty much threw the whole idea out the window.
“We haven’t done any homework for this year,” Jackson said on Tuesday, via CSN Bay Area . “My homework would’ve been for 2011 on Colin. We haven’t done much more since then, to be very honest with you. So, because, there are some other guys we’re chasing. It doesn’t mean that we won’t go back and re-visit him. It all depends on how everything shakes out over the next several weeks.”
Most unsigned free agents around the NFL will now have to wait until next month’s draft plays out to find employment. When it comes to Kaepernick, the situation itself is more up in the air.
Some believe that the national anthem protest he started last season has played a role in the cold market the quarterback has seen. Others believe that teams don’t want to take a PR hit that the divisive Kaepernick might bring, especially if he’s taking on a backup role (more on the here).
When asked whether Kaepernick’s off-field situation will be taken into account should Cleveland consider him, Jackson answered in the affirmative.
“I think we will consider it if that was somebody that we were going to target,” Jackson said. “We’re just not in that mood right now.”
Kaepernick is coming off a strong 2016 campaign that saw him tally 18 total touchdowns compared to four interceptions in 11 starts for the 49ers.