Chances Reportedly “75-25” Colin Kaepernick Remains With 49ers This Season

April 7, 2016

A person close to the situation tells ESPN’s Adam Schefter that the chances are “75-25” Colin Kaepernick will remain with the 49ers for the 2016 season.

Schefter mentions that the Broncos could still make another run at trading for Kaepernick once the draft draws closer.

However, Schefter seems to think the 49ers could be his best option, especially after Kaepernick begins working with new HC Chip Kelly and gets a feel for how he fits into the offense.

Trade talks have really dyed down in recent days, despite a report from last weekend that the 49ers and Broncos had reached an agreement on the parameters of trade agreement involving Kaepernick, but they wanted him to take a $4.9 million pay cut to complete a trade.

Jason La Canfora recently reported that the Broncos would prefer to pay to Kaepernick $14 million over the course of two years, as opposed to $12 million for the 2016 and then move forward with essentially one-year options over the following three years.
According to La Canfora, the Broncos also want to retain Kaepernick the final two years of his contract on top of getting him to take a pay cut.
As of now, La Canfora believes the Broncos are ultimately asking too much, and their offer to Kaepernick is clearly a “deal-breaker.” Even so, La Canfora mentions that trade talks could be rekindled down the road if Denver is willing to offer him a more reasonable contract restructure.

Kaepernick, 28, is in 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 a Kaepernick trade as the news is available.