Are The Chiefs Signing Colin Kaepernick?
Are the Kansas City Chiefs signing Colin Kaepernick?
The NFL was set ablaze on Thursday night when Patrick Mahomes, the reigning league MVP, was forced to exit the game with a rough-looking knee injury.
Although the extent of his injury has not yet been announced, Mahomes will be out a minimum of three weeks.
Backup Matt Moore was able to step in and do a quality job as the Chiefs quarterback, but there are serious questions regarding how solid he would be for the long term.
All signs point to Kansas City needing to pick up another passer, but the pickings are mighty slim this late in the year.
Related: Dan Patrick Wonders Why NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell Is Avoiding Him
One potential option that is gaining steam?
Kaepernick.
According to Ross Tucker, Chiefs coach Andy Reid is precisely the type of personality who would disregard the noise that would come with a Kaepernick signing in favor of potential on-the-field results.
Don’t think I’ve said this about any team/situation in 3 years but if Mahomes has surgery and is out for the year Andy Reid is one of the few coaches who wouldn’t be afraid to sign Kaepernick AND could design a creative offense to best utilize his skillset.
— Ross Tucker (@RossTuckerNFL) October 18, 2019
“Don’t think I’ve said this about any team/situation in 3 years but if Mahomes has surgery and is out for the year Andy Reid is one of the few coaches who wouldn’t be afraid to sign Kaepernick AND could design a creative offense to best utilize his skillset,” he tweeted.
Related: Will The Browns Bench Baker Mayfield, Trade For Cam Newton?
And Tucker was not alone in that assessment. Albert Breer seemed to agree.
Andy Reid actually hired Chris Ault — Kaepernick’s college coach at Nevada — as a consultant when he got the Chiefs job, to try and modernize his offense with spread concepts. Which helped set the table to get more out of Alex Smith, who played for Urban Meyer at Utah.
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) October 18, 2019
“Andy Reid actually hired Chris Ault — Kaepernick’s college coach at Nevada — as a consultant when he got the Chiefs job, to try and modernize his offense with spread concepts. Which helped set the table to get more out of Alex Smith, who played for Urban Meyer at Utah,” Breer wrote.
Related: Nationals Take Brutal Shot At Bryce Harper After Clinching World Series
Later on Thursday night, while appearing on SportsCenter, former wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson seemed to co-sign the move as well.
@keyshawn thinks the chiefs might want to take a look at a certain QB if Mahomes is out for an extended period pic.twitter.com/H0gBYWFClm
— stan verrett (@stanverrett) October 18, 2019
Kaepernick, 31, has not played an NFL game since 2016, when he was famously blacklisted for speaking out against racial injustice.
In his last year in the league, Kaepernick played 12 games – 11 of which were starts. He completed 59.2 percent of his passes for 2,241 yards, 16 touchdowns and four interceptions on a 90.7 rating.
Related: Nick Saban Offers Surprising Take On Michigan State
While concerns about how smoothly he would be able to return to the NFL after a three-year absence are certainly valid, it is worth noting that a prolonged absence did not seem to hurt Moore too much on Thursday night.
Prior to entering the game against the Denver Broncos in Mahomes’ place, Moore had not played in the NFL since suiting up for the Miami Dolphins 2017.
He ultimately ended up throwing one touchdown and no interceptions while going while going 10-of-19 en route to an 89.1 rating.
Related: James Harden Offers Surprising Response On LeBron James, China and Daryl Morey
By all accounts, the rust did not seem to effect him all that much.
Kansas City is currently in a rough place.
Coming into the Broncos game, the Chiefs’ Super Bowl odds were 8-1 and its AFC title odds were 7-2.
Related: Are The Bengals Trading A.J. Green To The Packers or Patriots?
As soon as Mahomes got hurt, sportsbooks immediately pulled them off the boards.
As a title contender, the Chiefs don’t have the luxury of sitting around and just waiting for Mahomes to get better.
They need a replacement who can handle the pressure – and they need him sooner rather than later.
Will Kaepernick ultimately be that guy?
We’ll find out soon enough.
Related: Georgia Quarterback Takes Shot At Kirby Smart
A graduate from the University of Texas, Anthony Amador has been credentialed to cover the Houston Texans, Dallas Cowboys, San Antonio Spurs, Dallas Mavericks and high school games all over the Lone Star State. Currently, his primary beats are the NBA, MLB, NFL and UFC.
