A couple hours after the news came down that the San Francisco 49ers hired Chip Kelly, Matt Maiocco had an interesting tweet regarding the quarterback situation.
Chip Kelly will sit down with Colin Kaepernick at some point and determine where to go. It’ll be Kelly’s call at the #49ers QB position.
— Matt Maiocco (@MaioccoCSN) January 14, 2016
Colin Kaepernick is in the midst of rehabbing surgeries on his knee, thumb and shoulder. He is expected to be fully recovered for the 2016 season, but the question remains as to his status when April 1 arrives. That is the date his 2016 base salary becomes fully guaranteed.
We have discussed the contract issue repeatedly, but Chip Kelly's hiring adds a whole new layer to it. It will be interesting to see how far "Kelly's call" will actually go when it comes down to the cap and roster issues revolving around Kaepernick. I don't doubt that Chip Kelly will have the call on the starting quarterback when the roster is set, but if Trent Baalke has firm control over personnel matters, what will happen with Kaepernick.
Baalke had final roster control with Jim Harbaugh, but Harbaugh did have plenty of input at the quarterback position. Will it be similar to that? And if so, where do the contract issues play into all this? The 49ers have a lot of cap space, so taking a $15.8 million cap hit is not the end of the world. Also, the 49ers will receive a credit for the roster bonus money they did not have to pay him once he went on injured reserve.
I still have no idea if Colin Kaepernick will be on the 49ers roster when the 2016 season arrives. I don't think the money is nearly as big an issue as it might otherwise be given the team's cap space. But will there be some kind of showdown as April 1 approaches with the team demanding Kap restructure his contract? And where does the Kelly-Baalke dynamic play into this? I really have no idea.