The Colin Kaepernick-to-Denver discussion just took an interesting turn.
According to Eric Branch of SFGate.com, Kaepernick met with John Elway at Elway’s Denver house on Thursday, and it’s not the first time. Apparently, the two have met at least twice since March 15, as Kaepernick has been rehabbing injuries up the Rocky Mountains in Vail.
While it may sound abnormal for a player under contract to be meeting at the home of a rival general manager — it is — the 49ers have given him permission to seek trade opportunities around the league.
#49ers gave Kaepernick permission to continue exploring his trade request with Elway meeting. Keeps #Broncos as likely potential destination
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) April 2, 2016
#Broncos GM John Elway & #49ers QB Colin Kaepernick got to know each other better, talked contract. But obstacles remain, nothing imminent
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) April 2, 2016
At this point, it’s abundantly clear that Elway has serious interest in bringing Kaepernick to Denver; why else would he be personally meeting with him at his own home? The issue, as we’ve laid out before, is that the Broncos simply don’t have the cap space to bring a guy like Kaepernick, and his $11.9 million contract, into the building. That’s why getting him to take a pay cut is so important.
The fact, though, that Kaepernick and Elway are meeting to discuss a pathway towards a deal is a positive sign of progress. If Kaepernick agrees to meet the Broncos’ restructuring needs, a trade could be accomplished quickly. For Denver, though, there is no wiggle room; either Kaepernick or agrees or nothing gets done.
