Amid the George Floyd protests, Colin Kaepernick’s name has come up again — specifically as it relates to what essentially has been his exit from the NFL.
Kaepernick has yet to sign with another NFL team since opting out of his contract with the San Francisco 49ers following the 2016 season. It was that campaign that he began kneeling during the national anthem in protest of police brutality and the treatment of minorities in the United States.
And while teams have not outright admitted it, it’s clear that Kaepernick effectively has been blackballed from the league over fear of any backlash that might come from a team signing him.
Former NFL spokesperson Joe Lockhart on Saturday wrote a column for CNN that, in short, said Kaepernick should have been signed in 2017 and that the Minnesota Vikings should consider signing the signal-caller now.
ProFootballTalk’s Mike Florio reached out to league spokesman Brian McCarthy about the column, and McCarthy responded.
“Colin is a free agent,” McCarthy said. “Clubs may sign him if they choose to do so.”
Kaepernick currently is 32-years-old and will turn 33 in November.
