49ers GM Trent Baalke: Colin Kaepernick “Absolutely” Will Be On Their Roster

49ers GM Trent Baalke told reporters on Wednesday that QB Colin Kaepernick will be on their roster on April 1, per Matt Maiocco.

Baalke later mentioned Kaepernick will be on their roster, and compete for the starting job with Blaine Gabbert.

This is an important date for the 49ers, as Kaepernick’s base salary becomes guaranteed for the 2016 season, so if they were planning to move on, they would likely do so before April 1.

Ian Rapoport of NFL Media recently reported that Kaepernick “certainly is more than open to returning to San Francisco” for the 2016 season.

Of course, there’s still the question of whether new 49ers HC Chip Kelly would want Kaepernick to be his quarterback. However, Rapoport has been told that Kelly previously considered the idea of trading for Kaepernick while he was the Eagles head coach.

According to Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee, the 49ers will meet with Kaepernick’s and his representatives at the Scouting Combine this week in Indianapolis.

Previous reports have said that Kaepernick would like to move on, and he may have interest in playing for the Jets.

Kaepernick, 28, will be 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.

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’s future with the 49ers as the news is available.