The Colin Kaepernick situation remains a bit of a mystery as various reports offer seemingly conflicting information about levels of interest in the free agent quarterback.
On Thursday, noted sociologist and 49ers consultant Dr. Harry Edwards told USA Today reporter Jarrett Bell that three teams had contacted him. He said they had asked if Kaepernick can play and wants to play.
On Thursday evening, Kaepernick’s girlfriend, Nessa, tweeted out that Colin had not been made aware of three teams contacting Edwards.
What supposed "three" teams?If this was really from his "adviser" Colin would of known about it https://t.co/Pyc64B6o62
— NESSA (@nessnitty) May 12, 2017
During the USA Today interview, Edwards acknowledged he has not spoken with Kaepernick since free agency opened in March. The author of the Edwards piece, Jarrett Bell, offered up this comment when asked about why Kaepernick had not heard anything.
Due diligence for background hardly constitutes an offer. Edwards never mentioned offers, just that some were curious enough to reach out. https://t.co/HSY14wyAZH
— Jarrett Bell (@JarrettBell) May 12, 2017
If I had to guess (and this is purely a guess), the teams wanted to keep their interest extremely hush-hush. Pro Football Talk had a piece on this, and offered up sound analysis on the situation. Multiple reports have said no inquiries have been made to Kaepernick or his agents.
Edwards is mentioned as an adviser to Kaepernick. He has spoken with Kaepernick about the protest, including this chat before practice back in August. Edwards has served as a consultant to the 49ers for some time now, so the access makes sense. Edwards said they spoke at the start of free agency, but beyond that, we don’t know what the relationship has entailed.
The simple explanation is that Edwards was contacted by teams, and asked not to tell Kaepernick or his representatives. It makes sense given the fact that teams have anonymously expressed concern about blowback in signing Kaepernick. His protest remains a hot-button topic. Mike Freeman continues to report that he is hearing from a host of league executives pointing specifically to the protest as the reason he is not signed. And he is not the only person reporting on this.
And so, we continue to wait and wonder how this will resolve itself.