The Denver Broncos made a move up the draft board in Round 1 to the No. 26 overall pick to land Paxton Lynch out of Memphis. With that move, John Elway says the team is no longer interested in pursuing San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, per Mike Klis of 9News in Denver.
https://twitter.com/MikeKlis/status/725885136084946944
The Broncos felt it was in their best interest to give up some draft currency (traded 31st pick for No. 26 and gave up a third round pick) to land a project quarterback in Lynch, rather than giving up a bit more to land Kaepernick. The 49ers were looking for a 2nd-round pick originally but may have been willing to take a third-rounder instead.
There was one report on draft day that said a deal was being discussed between the parties that would have involved Denver’s first round pick in a package for Kaepernick.
Another road block was the fact that Denver’s cap situation wasn’t conducive to Kaepernick’s salary. He was reportedly asked to take $7 million per year in 2016 and 2017, which could have potentially cost him $16 million over two years.
In the end, there was just too much in the way of getting a deal done.
Now the 49ers and Kaepernick have to go back to the drawing board.
NaVorro Bowman recently said it would be “a distraction” if Kaepernick was on the roster during training camp, which indicates the quarterback might not have many friends in the locker room.
But there just aren’t many options available for him at this point to move elsewhere.
It’s going to be interesting to see what develops in the coming days and months.