Barring any move between now and next Thursday, the San Francisco 49ers will officially enter the 2017 league year without a quarterback on their roster. After months of reports on the matter, quarterback Colin Kaepernick has formally opted out of his contract, according to ESPN’s Adam Caplan.
To answer the first question that comes to mind for a lot of people, no, Kaepernick had not already opted out. There have been extensive reports he would opt out, but the language of his restructured contract said he could not officially opt out until March 2nd. The March 2nd date was important because it prevented the 49ers from using the franchise tag on him. By season’s end it became pretty clear they would not use the tag, but had he put together a huge second half of the season, it could have been a possibility.
49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan said on Wednesday that the team is evaluating him in the rest of the pool of options available in free agency, via trade, and in the 2017 NFL Draft. The team will add at least three or four quarterbacks this offseason, and it is certainly possible he is one of them.