The funny thing is Kaepernick never made himself a distraction. He was sitting or kneeling for the anthem and saying nothing about it. It only blew up when someone asked him about it, and even then, it wasn't him making a big deal out of it. It was the angry crying eagle people who lost their minds.
I'm probably more old school in my opinions, but when Kap first sat for the anthem, my thoughts were:
1) He's on company time. That includes practices, team meetings, games, post game media availability, etc. Thus, he needed to clear that with the club if he wanted to do that IMO. It was something outside the norm of what players do during company time.
2) Assuming SF front office gave him the ok to continue to do that during "their time", I would have made it clear to Kap that he could continue, but he needed to talk to the media about it for the entire duration of his protest. The kneeling/sitting act itself would not be a distraction to the team, but it's the media coverage and questions because of it that can lead to it being a distraction. Because the media and fans would talk about it, so he needed to answer their questions. I don't want that falling on the HC and teammates. Plus, it ensures that his message/reason for the protest is made clear and doesn't get turned into anti-military and whatever else people wanted to twist it into. So, long as he did that, he could continue to sit/kneel during the anthem.
I really don't recall Kap talking to the media much about it during that season. Maybe I'm wrong here?
As for pure football, what Kap needed was a situation like the Titans when Tannehill signed. A team not in love with their QB anymore where there would be a competition or a short leash on the starter. Not one with an established starter like Wilson in Seattle, or a young QB being groomed. He was never going to get an opportunity with one of those 20 something odd teams. But, since he would not be the starter, his salary would be representative of that.
The teams that he had been linked to after SF were:
Baltimore was getting near the end of the Flacco era as this is Lamar's 5th year coming up.
Denver worked out a trade for Kap, contingent on him restructuring his contract at a lower salary. They had Lynch, Osweiller, Semien on their Roster at the time. SF ended up cutting him so he was never going to get the remainder of his deal with SF.
Miami, Tannehill was lost before the season in 2017. They ended up signing a recently retired Cutler.