Browns Willing To Trade A 3rd-Rd Pick For Colin Kaepernick, Want Him To Rework His Deal

Update:

Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee offers an update regarding a potential Colin Kaepernick trade.

According to Barrows, the Browns are becoming a less attractive options to Kaepernick as free agency plays out.

While Kaepernick like Browns HC Hue Jackson and would like to play for him, their roster has gotten worse since free agency opened earlier in the week. Cleveland has lost a number of notable players including C Alex Mack, RT Mitchell Schwartz, WR Travis Benjamin, and S Tashaun Gipson among others.

Multiple reports have said that the Browns are willing to offer the 49ers their third-round pick, which is just two picks lower than the Broncos’ second-round selection. However, they want Kaepernick to agree to a  restructured as part of a trade.

With all of this in mind, it seems unlikely that Kaepernick would drastically reduce his salary to go to a team that has gotten worse over the past week.

In regards to the Broncos, Barrows believes Kaepernick would likely sign the same deal the Browns are offering if Denver offered it to him. The issue with Denver is that they’re believed to be offering their third-round pick right now.

Barrows adds that if Ryan Fitzpatrick were to sign with the Broncos, the Jets could get more involved in trade talks with the 49ers. However, Barrows adds that some have questioned just how interested the Broncos really are in Fitzpatrick.

Barrows reported a few hours ago that there’s a multi-party staredown take place among the 49ers, Broncos and Browns regarding a potential deal.

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According to Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee, the 49ers are believed to have reached an understanding with the Browns on a trade that would send QB Colin Kaepernick to Cleveland for their No. 65 overall pick.

However, Barrows confirms that the Browns still want Kaepernick to restructure his contract before a deal would be completed.

Barrows adds that the 49ers are still waiting to see if the Broncos or another team would be willing to make them a better offer for Kaepernick. One possibility could be for the interested teams to swap late-round picks to boost the return for the 49ers, according to Barrows.

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Mark Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports that the Browns are willing to trade their third-round pick for 49ers QB Colin Kaepernick, but want him to restructure his contract as part of the trade.

According to Cabot, the 49ers actually want a second-round pick for their quarterback, but San Francisco may be open to accepting their third-round selection, seeing as it’s the No. 65 overall pick, which is pretty close to a second-rounder.

Cabot mentions that Kaepernick clearly wants out San Francisco, and while the Broncos were considered by many to be the front-runners to land him, they too are reportedly reluctant to send the 49ers a high pick.

On Friday, the Broncos traded a seventh-round conditional pick for Mark Sanchez, so they’re unlikely to be desperate enough to give up a high pick for Kaepernick out of desperation.

Cabot believes the Browns want Kaepernick to reduce his current $19 million a year average by more than half or something close to $7 million to $8 million a year with incentives added to the deal for games started.

Interestingly enough, Cabot writes that veteran QB Josh McCown could end up on the trading block if they’re able to get a deal done for Kaepernick.

Earlier in the day, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that Kaepernick wants to play for the Browns and has a lot of respect for HC Hue Jackson, so this is something to at least keep an eye on in the coming days.

Kaepernick, 28, is entering the third year of his seven-year, $126.97 million contract that included $61 million guaranteed and stands to make a base salary of $13.9 million for the 2016 season.

While those numbers are impressive on their own, the contract is essentially a pay-as-you-go agreement that includes ways for San Francisco to walk away with limited repercussions, as long as Kaepernick is healthy.

The April 1 first is especially important in regards to Kaepernick, as his base salary becomes guaranteed for the 2016 season at that point.

According to OverTheCap.com, trading Kaepernick would free up $8,493,493 in available cap space and create $7,397,260 in dead money.

In 2015, Kaepernick threw for 1,615 yards while completing 59.3 percent of his passes to go along with six touchdowns and five interceptions over the course of eight games. He also added 228 yards rushing and a touchdown.

We’ll have more regarding Kaepernick as the news is available.