San Francisco 49ers CEO Jed York made an appearance on Rich Eisen's NFL Now show on Thursday, and as would be expected, he got questions about Colin Kaepernick's future with the team. There has been plenty of speculation about what will happen with the 49ers quarterback, and the hiring of Chip Kelly adds to that speculation.
You can watch York's appearance in the video above, but I figured I would transcribe specifically what he said about Kaepernick. It is nothing particularly surprising, or all that new. He emphasizes the team wants Kap to get healthy, and be ready to compete next year. He says that the coaching staff will decide who the quarterback is moving forward. Of course, Trent Baalke is the one making decisions about the 53-man roster, so Kelly and company will be deciding based on who is on the roster later this year. Maybe it includes Kap, maybe it doesn't.
York does point out that it does not need to be a salary issue, given the team's significant cap space. If Kap has a legit shot at getting back the starting job, his 2016 salary is not really a problem. But if they decide he likely won't win back the starting job, then money does become a bigger discussion point.
On Chip Kelly and Colin Kaepernick (4:34 mark):
"I'm not gonna decide who the starting quarterback is. That's our coach, and then the staff. But I think the nice thing is we've got the third-most salary cap room in the league, and everybody wants to make a big issue of, 'Well, you need to make a decision on Colin, etc, etc. We want Colin to get back healthy as soon as possible. We want to make sure that he's able to take the field whenever he's available. And we've all seen what Colin can do. Taking us to a Super Bowl, an NFC Championship game the year after. He's had a great career here. Obviously last year wasn't a great year for any of us in red and gold. And I think Chip is going to be a great addition, not just for Kap, but for the rest of the team. I'm excited to see where it goes."
On the benching and Kap being able to be put back together:
"There's no question in my mind. I've always had a very, very high opinion of Kap. I think Kap's a great kid, he's done a lot of great things for us. And again, this is a fresh start for everybody. Chip has done a great job offensively, wherever he's been, and I think you articulate a lot of things that we and others have seen. Whether it's Colin or whether it's anybody else, Chip's going to know what to do with the quarterback. And again, Colin needs to get back healthy, come in and be ready to compete, and we'll see where we go."