49ers concerned about rules concerning oversight of Colin Kaepernick offseason workouts

Wednesday afternoon, Jason Cole posted a new video that had a rather provocative tweet and headline attached to it. It obviously got people clicking, and given that I have gotten a few questions about it, I figured I would address it. First, here is the tweet:

Insider Buzz: 49ers Express Concern About Colin Kaepernick's Offseason Workouts http://t.co/dYRSAookqU via @bleacherreport

— Jason Cole (@JasonPhilCole) May 26, 2015

Obviously if I see that, I'm going to click. It is 49ers related, and it comes across as though there is some kind of problem between the 49ers and Colin Kaepernick (or at least his people). In reality, that is not the case. I've embedded the video below, but I will also explain the gist of it.

The video is actually about the 49ers problems with the CBA-mandated rules that do not allow them to do much of anything with their players prior to the offseason workout program. This is not some shocking development, as most teams have problems with the rules.

Cole reports that the 49ers were concerned that they could not observe the workouts. The coaching staff wanted to send down quarterbacks coach Steve Logan to observe, but Trent Baalke nixed it to avoid any potential CBA violations.

Talking to coach Jim Tomsula over the weekend, he said, look, the 49ers loved what they were doing. In fact they had Geep Chryst, the new offensive coordinator, talk with Kaepernick before before he went off to do those workouts. However, Tomsula also wanted to send quarterbacks coach Steve Logan down to Arizona to observe those workouts.

Ultimately, they said no. General manager Trent Baalke said, look, let's not take a chance of violating the collective bargaining agreement by sending a coach down there and making it look like that coach might be working with Kaepernick, which would be a violation. So they backed off on that.

One of the big victories the NFLPA has claimed is less time for offseason workouts. There are complaints from teams when it comes to getting players, particularly rookies, prepared for the season. There is a balance to be struck, and I imagine this will be something up for negotiation when the CBA is back up for renegotiation at the end of the decade.

For now, Kap is at the offseason workout program with his new mechanics and techniques in hand. We'll continue to see modest bits of video showing his technique, and otherwise we wait until preseason gets here and we can see him in real game action. Well, as real as preseason gets.