Kaepernick won't end up in Denver

[True Dough]

I have read elsewhere, more than once, that Kap's salary expectations are high for a QB of his caliber, which is not among the league's elite.

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- As the Denver Broncos try to decide what they'll do to find a backup quarterback, John Elway said Thursday that Colin Kaepernick will not be a consideration.

In a week when the Broncos demoted Paxton Lynch to No. 3 and are working second-year quarterback Chad Kelly as the No. 2, Elway -- the team's president of football operations and general manager -- has not ruled out signing a veteran to be Case Keenum's backup.

Elway was asked Thursday if Kaepernick was "a viable option."

"You know what, and I said this a while ago: Colin had his chance to be here. We offered him a contract. He didn't take it," Elway said. "As I said in my deposition ... he's had his chance to be here. He passed it."

http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/24393172/john-elway-colin-kaepernick-had-chance-denver-broncos-passed

[JonLP24]

1. What's interesting is Chad Kelly moving ahead of Paxton Lynch

Doesn't surprise me though he had a bright future in college got hurt. Chad Kelly was Mr. Irrelevant while Lynch was a first round pick.

Prediction: Chad Kelly Will Become The First "Mr. Irrelevant" To Start At Quarterback

Kelly and Lynch switched places on the Broncos depth chart this week after Lynch, a former first-round pick, threw up such a rotten performance in Denver’s first preseason game that fans booed him off the field and have started a GoFundMe to get him cut from the roster altogether.

Which means the only thing standing between Chad Kelly and history is Case Keenum. Which probably means that before this thing is over, Chad Kelly is going to become the first “Mr. Irrelevant” ever to start an NFL game at quarterback.

“Mr. Irrelevant,” of course, refers to the last player taken in the NFL Draft in a given year. Since the NFL began in 1936, only six quarterbacks have been Mr. Irrelevant.

George Haffner (1965)
Randy Essington (1984)
Larry Wanke (1991)
Ronnie McAda (1997)
Chandler Harnish (2012)
Chad Kelly (2017)
Haffner, Essington, Wanke, and McAda all failed to make their teams. Harnish was on active rosters in Indianapolis and Minnesota from 2012-14, appearing in one game for Minnesota in 2014 without recording any statistics.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/thebiglead.com/2018/08/14/prediction-chad-kelly-will-become-the-first-mr-irrelevant-to-start-at-quarterback/amp/

[True Dough]

2. Thanks for the

"Mr. Irrelevant" history lesson. I honestly knew nothing about that before reading your post.

[JonLP24]

3. I saw the pick live

I didn't watch the entire draft but had most of the rounds as background noise.

Ever since that show Last Chance U where the first season after Chad Kelly played at East Mississippi Community college Was filmed I became more familiar with his career. Div 1 backups often go there to hopefully land a better job elsewhere he had a great season at Ole Miss but suffered a season ending injury his Senior season. He is also Jim Kelly's nephew.

[ProfessorGAC]

4. On Golic And Wingo. . .

. . . it was either Riddick or Mortenson (i forget) who said they offered him a contract that was a pretty big cut from where he had been.

Now, given the market, Denver's offer might have been reasonable. I don't know. They didn't mention specific amounts.

If they REALLY lowballed him, that might be why Kap said no. If it was still pretty good for a back up, maybe he's not being realistic.

[True Dough]

5. I saw reports last year that he was looking for $9 million to $10 million per season

which is too much.

However, Kap later told acquaintances in the media that the reports were erroneous but he didn't state a target figure or range. Fair enough, who wants to negotiate through the media?

So it's hard to say whether salary expectations or political pariah status plays the larger role. Both are probably factors, I'd guess.

[Brother Buzz]

6. A QB is worth what someone's willing to pay him

On a good day he was worth 3-5 Million as a back-up QB. The most bombastic thing he did was walk away from his 49er contract and become a free agent; the 49ers just might have bit the bullet and picked up the difference in a trade. His ego was his worst enemy.

Is anyone whispering in baseball in his ear?

[JonLP24]

7. John Elway is talking about a time before Kaepernick kneeled

Last edited Sat Aug 18, 2018, 02:15 AM - Edit history (2)

He could have signed him last season for cheap but he called the speculation he'd sign Kaepernick "fake news". He's being very disingenuous here it is so obvious.

Not to mention Eric Reid and the safety market.

--------------

First, here’s what happened in March 2016. The Broncos needed a starting quarterback, after Peyton Manning retired and Brock Osweiler (more on him in a second) left via free agency. Kaepernick had a contract that paid him $12 million for the coming season, and it was due to become fully guaranteed on April 1 of that year. So if the Broncos traded for Kaepernick, they would have been saddled with his $12 million salary.

Elway wanted to pay less. Kaepernick didn’t want to take less, and he had no reason to take less. He had undergone a trio of offseason surgical procedures, he wouldn’t have passed a physical before April 1, so he was getting $12 million for 2016, no matter what. Thus, while Elway clearly wanted to trade for Kaepernick, Elway didn’t want to pay Kaepernick as much as Kaepernick could have gotten from the 49ers.

It’s no different than what Osweiler did that same month. Elway wanted to keep Osweiler, Elway offered Osweiler a contract, and Osweiler declined to accept the contract (signing instead with the Texans) because Osweiler wanted more.

And what happened a year later, after Osweiler was unloaded by the Texans to the Browns and later cut by Cleveland? When Elway needed a backup quarterback, did he say, “Brock had his chance here. We offered him a contract. He didn’t take it. So . . . he’s had his chance to be here. He passed it”?

Nope. Elway brought Osweiler back.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.yahoo.com/amphtml/sports/elway-kaepernick-comments-could-problematic-202259239.html

[ProfessorGAC]

10. Nice Catch, Jon

Elway is a tool.

[mythology]

11. One minor problem with that

Denver only paid Brock Osweiler the league minimum, the rest of his salary was paid by Cleveland.

We know he didn't want Kaepernick at $12 million a year. We know he didn't want Kaepernick at whatever he was asking for last year. But if he was getting the league minimum, maybe, be we don't know what Kaepernick was asking for.

Kaepernick isn't in the league as a starter because he's not a good quarterback. He's not in the league as a backup because he isn't a good quarterback, who would require your offense be built around him, and because he is a distraction both because some idiots think kneeling during the anthem is a major crime, and because others mistake agreeing with his stance on the anthem with meaning he's a good quarterback.

Eric Reid is a more complicated case, but the NFL safety market fell off a cliff this year and it's not just Reid. Tre Boston had the best year of his career at age 26 and couldn't get signed until late June on a one year contract. The NFL rookie salary cap, while correcting the problem of unproven rookies getting mammoth deals, caused another problem of NFL veterans being pushed out because teams can draft a guy, have him under contract for a really low amount for 3 or 4 years and have him be 80% as impactful as a guy making 3 times as much money. The economics of that screwed non-star players. It's why having a starting quarterback on a rookie contract is so valuable.

[JonLP24]

12. Internal team documents evaluated Kaepernick as a starter

Kaepernick collusion case proving that teams viewed him as a starting quarterback

https://www.google.com/amp/s/profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2018/05/21/kaepernick-collusion-case-proving-that-teams-viewed-him-as-a-starting-quarterback/amp/

Last year he wasn't talking about money but the fact that Osweiller turned down original offers to bring up the following year blows a hole in that logic.

Kaepernick's stats are a lot better than QBs who were in the league last year such as Osweiller.

Then there's the Eric Reid situation.

[ProfessorGAC]

8. Yeah, Probably So

9 million is high, but we don't know

[Iggo]

9. Elway's full of shit. (n/t)