NFL: Reports: Kaepernick filing grievance against owners for collusion

[Riptide]

Free agent quarterback will file a grievance under the NFL's collective bargaining agreement against the owners for collusion, according to multiple reports.

Bleacher Report's Mike Freeman, who was first to report the news, said Kaepernick is preparing a statement and has hired attorney Mark Geragos to represent him.

http://www.tsn.ca/reports-kaepernick-filing-grievance-against-owners-for-collusion-1.885371

Will be interesting to see how this goes. The fact that he hasn't been signed in and of itself isn't collusion.

Click to read more...

 

[MMC]

Pathetic, nothing will come of this.

 

[Blackhawkswincup]

Probably best to put this in Kaepernick thread on politics board in which discussion is already occuring

 

[Riptide]

Probably best to put this in Kaepernick thread on politics board in which discussion is already occuring

You have a link for that? Have looked a couple times, but haven't seen it yet.

 

[Blackhawkswincup]

http://hfboards.mandatory.com/forums/political-discussion-on-topic-unmoderated.160/

 

[Voight]

Don't see this working.

The worst thing he did was agree to a restructure that included the opt out / refusing to restructure when Elway wanted him.

 

[John Price]

He's not being signed because he's not any good. It has nothing to do with politics.

"But he is better than x number of starters"

Keep saying that but he regressed to the point where he lost his job repeatedly for a dismal niners team. Don't believe me? See his game against Chicago.

 

[tony d]

Yeah, if the guy was any good he'd be signed by now. It's his lack of skills keeping him off the field not his politics.

 

[YEM]

He's not being signed because he's not any good. It has nothing to do with politics.

Yeah, if the guy was any good he'd be signed by now.

this argument fails when horrendous players like Brandon Weeden are being signed over Kaep

 

[John Price]

this argument fails when horrendous players like Brandon Weeden are being signed over Kaep

Kaepernick has not been good since he went to the Super Bowl.

 

[GKJ]

Mike Florio said something really interesting last night, that there's a clause in the CBA where if the owners are found guilty of collusion, that it would trigger an automatic termination of the CBA, which adds a whole new dimension to this and should have players frothing at the mouth.

Kaepernick has not been good since he went to the Super Bowl.

Brandon Weeden hasn't been good since ever.

 

[Reality Check]

this argument fails when horrendous players like Brandon Weeden are being signed over Kaep

I'm so tired of hearing the "Kaepernick just isn't good enough" justification.

The man is being blackballed and he knows that he'll never play in the NFL again. Thus, the grievance.

 

[Duke33]

He's not being signed because he's not any good. It has nothing to do with politics.

"But he is better than x number of starters"

Keep saying that but he regressed to the point where he lost his job repeatedly for a dismal niners team. Don't believe me? See his game against Chicago.

Agreed. Are there other awful QBs out there? Yep. Any that are a major distraction like him? Nope.

He's done.

 

[Richi]

Some teams don´t want Kap because they have better and/or developmental QBs, some teams are just not a fit, some don´t want the distraction and some don´t like his political views.

So there are 4 reasons to not want Kap on your team, only one of them is reason for collusion. So it´s highly doubtable that all or even some of the owners get in on the stupid risk of a collusion.

Edit: Looking through the political board there seems to be a fifth reason -> marketing concerns. Also no reason for collusion.

While I think Kap should be on a team with his skillset and his political commitment to equal rights for everyone is admirable (not a big fan of ceremonial flag-waiving // hang me), this is not a battle worth fighting.

 

[SJSharksfan39]

Agreed. Are there other awful QBs out there? Yep. Any that are a major distraction like him? Nope.

He's done.

What does that mean, major distraction? Everyone is doing it now.

 

[YEM]

there's somewhere around 10+ starters in the NFL that either aren't good or used to be good and are washed up

that are a major distraction like him? Nope.

his 49er teammates said he wasn't a distraction
Chip Kelley said he wasn't a distraction
these are grown men on these teams, many of color, not a classroom full of kids with ADD

 

[izlez]

He's not being signed because he's not any good. It has nothing to do with politics.

"But he is better than x number of starters"

Keep saying that but he regressed to the point where he lost his job repeatedly for a dismal niners team. Don't believe me? See his game against Chicago.

Wut?

Quarterback rating of 86.4, 78.5, and 90.7 in his last 3 seasons.
Quarterback rating of 95.9, 101.9, and 122.3 in his last 3 games.

It's not very hard to find NFL QB's significantly worse than that.
Heck, half the guys listed as "top 10 QB's" every season are worse than that



"see his game against Chicago"
102
89
97
94
39
84
95
101
122

One of these seems to not be like the others.....I wonder why that one would be selected to make an argument

 

[Duke33]

What does that mean, major distraction? Everyone is doing it now.

No, not everyone is doing it now. And he's the one that started the whole thing. He's the one who we can't go a day or two without getting some kind of article on. Now he's taking it up a notch by suing the league in a ridiculous display.

This is a guy who "kneeled for his values", then left his team of his own free will. Then, apparently throwing his values out the window, when he hit the FA market he said he was done kneeling, so so much for his values that meant so much.

He's a hypocrite, a distraction, and bottom line not a very good QB anymore. Now by suing the league he pretty much guaranteed himself never to play again.

 

[izlez]

No, not everyone is doing it now. And he's the one that started the whole thing. He's the one who we can't go a day or two without getting some kind of article on. Now he's taking it up a notch by suing the league in a ridiculous display.

This is a guy who "kneeled for his values", then left his team of his own free will. Then, apparently throwing his values out the window, when he hit the FA market he said he was done kneeling, so so much for his values that meant so much.

He's a hypocrite, a distraction, and bottom line not a very good QB anymore. Now by suing the league he pretty much guaranteed himself never to play again.

Wait.

He kneels. People say "you can't do that". (lol)

So he stops.

Now, stopping means he turned his back on his values? (lol)

It's almost as if you created a no-win situation

 

[Hasbro]

Mike Florio said something really interesting last night, that there's a clause in the CBA where if the owners are found guilty of collusion, that it would trigger an automatic termination of the CBA, which adds a whole new dimension to this and should have players frothing at the mouth.

The NFL needs to take this very seriously because of that albeit slight possibility. Say it were a bag of Skittles and 3 were poisonous...

What does that mean, major distraction? Everyone is doing it now.

The alleged blackballing of Kap became pretty useless once the mass protests kicked off.

 

[StreetHawk]

this argument fails when horrendous players like Brandon Weeden are being signed over Kaep

David Carr said something a few weeks ago on the NFL Network, that when his brother Derek won the starting QB job as a rookie against schaub, schaub told Derek, that he would do everything he could to help Derek be the best starter Derek could be.

David says that's the mindset teams want from their backup. Yes, they have to be capable of stepping in if the starter goes down, but teams generally only budget the backup being needed for 2-4 games. Never for 12 or more. There's a money part to it as well.

But there is a reason why the mckown brothers Luke and Josh have been on an NFL roster for a decade each. Not for their on field talent, but they do what a teams wants for a backup. Study film, break down defenses, etc.

Is Kaepernick in that mindset? Seattle passed on signing him, despite Wilson running a similar scheme. Their backup is Austin Davis.

I think a year away from the NFL will help calm things down for Kaepernick. Then in 2018, he can latch on with a team. Probably just needs the attention to be taken away from him right now.

 

[SJSharksfan39]

The alleged blackballing of Kap became pretty useless once the mass protests kicked off.

I was surprised he wasn't signed that week after that. He's better than some of the QBs in the league. I didn't hear about the Baltimore thing until just recently, and that was quite unfortunate.

 

[What the Faulk]

1. This has zero chance of being successful.

2. Kaepernick is better than a lot of backups and some starters out there, but we don't evaluate players in a vacuum.

3. Following point 2, he isn't so good as to overcome the distraction angle. If he was, he'd be on a team.

4. You can say "SF teammates and coaches said he wasn't a distraction", but it's become MUCH bigger than it was back then. Plus, the owner is the one that determines what is and isn't a distraction.

5. He's done himself no favors with the socks, and the EDIT: Castro thing, and his GF spouting off on Twitter.

6. What he's reported to want (10 million and a shot at being a starter) probably doesn't line up with many opportunities for a 30-year-old mediocre QB coming off a major injury.

7. None of this has anything to do with the purpose of his protest, which is valid, but we're so far beyond that at this point. This is the way it is in the NFL, right or wrong.

8. I'm so sick of all of this.

 

[Baxterman]

Michael Bennett has been as outspoken, if not more, and made up a story about police racism and yet he not only is still employed but starts for his team. Last time I checked he was black.

Malcolm Jenkins has been extremely outspoken and not only kneeled himself but encouraged others to as well. Again as far as I know he is black.

Both of these guys are black, both are outspoken, both have made as much of a stink as Kaepernick. The major difference between these two who are starting and Kaerpnick who is out of the league is talent.

Ray Rice was black and punched a woman in the face. He was back in the league no problem, until they saw he sucked then he was gone. I have a hard time believing that supposed racist and colluder Steve Biscotti is so racist against Kaepernick that he will go along with blackballing him but was fine with having a black woman abuser on his team? That same supposed racist owner has employed a Black GM for 20 years, including many poor seasons when it would have been easy to fire him, but won't emply Kaepernick because of racism? And that black GM when he wanted to sign Kaepernick but was told "nope we are signing that guy due to his race" just said "ok boss"?

Hue Jackson who desperately needs a QB, likely save his job, is going along with this racist blackballing of him because ?

And as always with collusion and conspiracy theories that involve large numbers of people how did 30 NFL teams all agree not to sign Kaepernick and not a single word of it come out from a real or even anonymous source? Sure if football staff wanted to sign him but we told they couldn't we would have heard about it now. The closest has been Ray Lewis saying they were interested but stopped when his girlfriend posted that picture on twitter.

It makes a lot more sense that Kaepernicks poor play, combined with his limited skill set, reported bad attitude and of field issues have made teams realize that he isn't worth it to bring in rather than a bunch of racist owners colluding together to keep him out because he is black.

 

[GlassesJacketShirt]

I think What The Faulk summed it up pretty well.

Personally, I just wanted Kaepernick signed because I wanted this story to end, whether it be him just sitting around as a backup or finding a way to somehow be a starter again (hopefully by being able to identify uncovered receivers at the line of scrimmage). As much as his QB skill set is, well, bottom of the barrel, his physical skill set does make it tough of on defenses to contain him. Whether he's as physically imposing as he was back in the day is another story, one that I would be hesitant to argue for or against without going back to some past highlights.

I do wonder about the dollar amount requested. That is a pretty key detail that is still up in the air. I have seen some reports suggest he was willing to take minimum wage/back up money; I've also heard rumors that he wants something closer to low end starter dough. I did find Pete Carroll's deflection of the question during the Seattle visit interesting.

Final detail: what is Mr. Kaepernick's expectation as a guy on the roster? If he is doing so with the mindset of competing for the starter's role from the backup spot, then I personally would pass. I only take Kaepernick if my guy is injured and I am willing to build an offense surrounding his skillset. In other words, starter or bust. Jacksonville seems like the best match since Bortles is Bortles. Guess there's also that shit show in Cleveland.