The San Francisco 49ers are slogging their way through negotiations to trade quarterback Colin Kaepernick, and they are doing everything they can to build some kind of leverage. The Denver Broncos have emerged as the favorite to land Kaepernick, but the Cleveland Browns are also mentioned as well.
The latest leveraging seems to come in Mike Silver's latest article at NFL.com. Silver reports that the 49ers are prepared to retain Kaepernick if they cannot get the right deal done. As to a potential Broncos deal, Silver says they are apart on compensation with the 49ers, but they have had "productive" discussions with Kaepernick's agents about a restructured contract. Thursday evening, Silver said he thought the 49ers and Broncos were "there" in compensation. So who knows what's going on there.
He then reported that the 49ers and Browns are in general agreement on trade compensation, but the Browns and Kaepernick's agents negotiations on a contract "had not progressed to a point that would satisfy the quarterback enough to green-light the arrangement."
This Browns news comes after Adam Schefter reported Friday morning that Kaepernick wanted to play in Cleveland with head coach Hue Jackson. It is certainly possible Kaepernick would be down for Cleveland, but I believe Schefter's report came courtesy of the 49ers trying to leverage against the Broncos.
I do not actually think the 49ers will keep Kaepernick. At some point, somebody is going to blink, be it the 49ers, Broncos, or Browns. I suppose if Silver's report is accurate, we could add Kaepernick and his agents to the mix with regard to the Browns chatter. But I really don't see this ending with Kaepernick on the 49ers roster through the 2016 season. I do think he would report and be professional about it if team didn't trade him, but I just can't see the 49ers retaining him given the state of this relationship. Maybe I'll be proven wrong.