The San Francisco 49ers placed Colin Kaepernick on injured reserve Saturday afternoon, and the next step is going to be figuring out his future. Ian Rapoport reported some fairly obvious news on Sunday, writing that the team will explore trade options this offseason, and Kaepernick would welcome the fresh start.
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None of that is surprising, or what I would really consider new information. Rapoport did have one piece of relatively new information, reporting that "[a]t least three teams inquired about him at this year's trade deadline ... but no one could take on his salary midseason."
I don't recall hearing any mention of there being suitors for Kaepernick at the trade deadline. Kaepernick's contract is fairly well known at this point, so I can only presume that teams were looking to see if the 49ers would take on some of his 2015 salary. Otherwise, why would they be calling if they already knew his salary was too high for them. I do wonder if the 49ers leaked some of this information to start slowly building up the trade market for Kaepernick this offseason.
Where Rapoport's report gets at least a little interesting is with the April 1 deadline when his salary can become fully guaranteed. If he can't pass a physical at that point, the 49ers will find themselves stuck with his salary. It does not mean a trade can't happen, but it creates some issues with that guarantee. If the 49ers elect to release him at that point, they have to hope someone signs him to a decent-sized deal to offset the $11.9 million in base salary the 49ers would owe him.