The San Francisco 49ers have been fairly quiet in the few days since word got out that Colin Kaepernick is looking to be traded. CEO Jed York broke the silence this weekend with a comment to San Jose Mercury News columnist Mark Purdy. York kept it fairly simple, saying his last conversation was a good conversation, he cares about Kap's health, and he thinks he can be a big piece of the puzzle moving forward. Here's the full quotation:
"All I can tell you," York told me, "is that the last conversation I had with Kap was a good conversation. I asked how he was feeling. I hope he's doing well. I care about his health and well-being because I think he can be a big piece of what we're doing, going forward."
I certainly was not expecting much more than that if York commented to a media member. If the 49ers are going to try and trade Kap, they are going to want to at least attempt to make it seem like they are content keeping him around next year.
Fooch's update - I missed a pair of sort of interesting quotations:
"I think that it was very clear from Chip, from Trent and ultimately with my blessing to say that we're more than comfortable paying Kap," York said. "Because they want him here. Chip thinks he would be a great fit for our offense."
So what was York's reaction to the reports that Kaepernick's people say he wants out?
"I haven't talked to his people," York said. "And I try to stay away from what the agents say. I know what our feeling is. We want Kap to be healthy. And we'd like to see Kap here."
The rumors that Kap wants out do not help the 49ers side of things. The team has the cap space to keep him on the roster with his 2016 salary, but it still remains hard for me to see Kap sticking around. The leak on the request was worded in a manner that was not so much, "get me out of here now", as it was "I want to explore my options." Any kind of trade request is not exactly a good sign that a player will stick around, and given that it's a quarterback, it is all the more so.
For now, the potential game of chicken rolls on.