Hope may not be entirely lost for former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick as Breitbart reported the B.C. Lions from the Canadian Football League (CFL) have emerged as potential suitors, showing a newfound interest in the renowned national anthem protester.
According to ESPN, Kaepernick's recent impassioned appeal to secure a spot on the New York Jets' practice squad has seemingly gone unanswered, with the team choosing to sign quarterback Trevor Siemian instead.
The former San Francisco 49ers quarterback, who has not thrown a pass in the NFL since 2016, reached out to the Jets following a season-ending injury to the team's star quarterback, Aaron Rodgers, as reported by multiple sources.
As the Kaepernick saga continues, the Lions have entered the fray. According to TSN's Farhan Lalji, the Lions have added Kaepernick to their negotiation list, signaling a potential avenue for the quarterback's professional return.
"Each team in the CFL can claim exclusive CFL rights to up to 45 players by placing them on their negotiation lists. Players can be added, removed, or traded from the list at any time," according to CFL.ca.
In the realm of CFL operations, this addition carries relatively limited significance.
Such an inclusion implies that if Kaepernick were to contemplate a CFL venture, he would be obliged to either join the team that currently holds his negotiation rights or engage in negotiations to transfer those rights to a different preferred destination.
Kaepernick is no stranger to finding himself on a CFL team's negotiation list.
In the past, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats held Kaepernick's rights from March to September 2017, despite his agent asserting that Kaepernick had no intentions of pursuing a career in the league. Subsequently, the Montreal Alouettes added Kaepernick to their negotiation list, initiating contact with his agent, but an agreement failed to materialize.
CBS News reported that in 2019, Kaepernick also had a chance to join the revived XFL 2.0, but his salary demands ultimately derailed the opportunity,
In an NPR interview, XFL Commissioner Oliver Luck explained, "We gave it some thought; we have some pretty significant salary restrictions, you know. We're a start-up league, so we want to make sure that we can be fiscally responsible and fiscally prudent."
"We spoke with his [Kaepernick's] representative," he continued, "and the salary requirements that were broached in that conversation were exorbitant and certainly out of our range."
Jim Thomas ✉
Jim Thomas is a writer based in Indiana. He holds a bachelor's degree in Political Science, a law degree from U.I.C. Law School, and has practiced law for more than 20 years.
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