More Cuts at ESPN

Cutler would never make it through 10 games.

Kaepernick might have something left, but if it's just the old Red Gun stuff, teams are on to that and have been for years.

 

Again... Blaine Gabbert was the SF starter to open the season. 5 TDs, 6 INTs, QB rating of 68.

Kaepernick replaced him. 16 TDs, 4 INTs, QB rating of 90.

Gabbert just got signed. Kaepernick isn't getting a phone call from anyone.

This isn't based on merit.

 

Not entirely, no. But if he was really good, he would be signed.

 

And this reminds me of one other side note to all this...

It's not like NFL teams haven't passed on talented guys because of bullshit reasons before.

Remember Kerry Rhodes? Played safety for the Cardinals. Pro Football Focus ranked his as the 4th best safety in the NFL in 2012. He was really good.

That was his last season, because someone took a picture of him at the beach that looked kinda gay. Never played another down. Teams refused to talk to him.

 

People who need to maintain some ill-conceived perception of control and unanimity are always going to shy away from anything that might upset the apple cart. Especially in football. I mean, we still don't have active and out guys in ANY of the major sports. Aaron Hernandez could have been that pioneer. Alas, he chose a darker path.

Everything about the Kaepernick situation is mildly infuriating. I think he's an empty vessel. He's certainly not an eloquent or insightful spokesman for whatever the fuck he is trying to say. But him not standing for the anthem doesn't really move my needle. Both of my parents are buried in Arlington National Cemetery, so I certainly honor the flag and don't make light of military service. But men and women fight -- actions that have genuine consequences -- and I am supposed to get ultra pissed because some guy kneels for the anthem? a gesture that has seemed to have no effect on anything other than his ability to get a job? He's no martyr. At this point he's just a bad career manager.

 

Rhodes doesn't believe he was 'blacklisted'

So, more to it than that.

Colin Kaepernick defenders get vocal after Cardinals reportedly sign Blaine Gabbert

Sounds like there's more to this one, too.

 

If you think Kaepernick is an "empty vessel" and not an eloquent or insightful spokesman for his causes, I don't know what to tell you. Actually listen to the man speak. Pay attention to what he's doing. I think the guy is extremely thoughtful and impressive.

But sticking to football...

To suggest there's "more to it" because of his contract situation at the end of 2015 is beyond absurd. He signed a ridiculously team-friendly deal, and everyone knew they were going to cut him after 2015. Except... he was so beaten up after the end of the year, he couldn't even pass the physical, so they couldn't cut him. The 49ers were stuck with him in 2016, and he played pretty well for a shit team. He was inarguably light years better than Blaine Gabbert, who is now under contract to the Cardinals.

It is a bizarre argument to say Kaepernick hasn't shown that he's willing to be a backup. Nobody has called him. His people seem to be suggesting he'd be perfectly happy going into a camp as a backup, and since no one has called, no one knows what kind of money he might be looking for.

I've probably seen 95% of the Cardinals' games over the past 10 years. If Drew Stanton is gone and Gabbert is the backup, this team is going to go 5-11 tops, and I'll be surprised if Carson Palmer plays more than 8 games. It's insane to me that they didn't at least call to see if Kaepernick was interested before signing a guy who has proven conclusively that he's an incompetent NFL quarterback.

 

Within the last couple of weeks, he's been involved in giving suits to homeless men. A lot of his other charitable efforts have been documented already, even in the Kaep thread I started just before the start of the season. The 49ers were even matching his donations. So, he's been doing all the things the "but he insulted 'Murica!" crowd said he wouldn't do.

As a QB, he may very well be a special case like Tebow, who just doesn't fit into a conventional NFL-style offense.

 

You may want to double check who you're responding to with the "empty vessel" quote.

 

He did insult America. And that's why he doesn't have a job and few, if any, prospects of getting one.

Cancer in the locker room. Cancer for the fan base. Cancer for ownership. Fuck him.

 

(This is why Kaepernick is such a topic on ESPN)

 

Absolutely. It's sports talk radio 101. What will make the angriest and least rational of our audience boil with rage today, no matter how stupid the whole topic may be? Stephen A.'s "Harden was drugged" rap was right out of the same page of the playbook. Trouble with the approach is, the much larger part of the audience that aren't fools resent taken for them.