Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk writes that while the San Francisco 49ers are likely to field trade offers for QB Colin Kaepernick next year, his contract could prove to be an impediment.
As of now, Kaepernick has another $31 million in guaranteed money remaining on his current deal, which could be an issue for teams interested in acquiring him. Of course, Kaepernick could agree to rework his contract, but has obviously has a say in doing so.
According to Florio, the situation appears to be headed towards the 49ers releasing Kaepernick outright and before April 1 when his 2016 base salary becomes fully guaranteed.
However, should Kaepernick not be healthy by April 1, the situation becomes even more complicated, seeing as the 49ers could be on the hook for his 2016 salary, even if they were to release prior to the April date.
Kaepernick, 27, is in the second year of his seven-year, $126.97 million contract that included $61 million guaranteed and stands to make a base salary of $12.4 million for the 2015 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, releasing Kaepernick would free up $8,493,493 in available cap space and create $7,397,260 in dead money.
Trading Kaepernick would create identical figures, according to OTCs cap calculator.
In eight games this season, Kaepernick has thrown for 1,615 yards while completing 59.3 percent of his passes to go along with six touchdowns and five interceptions. He also added 228 yards rushing and a touchdown.
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