The San Francisco 49ers and Denver Broncos are in the midst of negotiations on a deal that would send Colin Kaepernick to the Super Bowl champs in exchange for some kind of draft pick compensation. We've heard reports the Broncos are offering their late third round pick, but now Mike Silver has a bit of an update. Well, kind of.
Silver is reporting the Broncos think Kaepernick is worth a fourth round pick. Silver had initially said on Twitter that the Broncos "offered" a fourth for Kaepernick. He then followed up with this correction:
OK, let me clarify my earlier report that the Broncos have offered a fourth-round pick for Kaepernick...
— Michael Silver (@MikeSilver) March 14, 2016
Many of you have correctly pointed out that they don't have a fourth-rounder to trade this year...
— Michael Silver (@MikeSilver) March 14, 2016
The Broncos have told the 49ers they believe Kaepernick is worth a fourth-round pick. They'd have to figure out a way to make that work.
— Michael Silver (@MikeSilver) March 14, 2016
THUS: The Broncos haven't offered a specific fourth-round pick... they've told the Niners they believe a 4th-round pick is the right price
— Michael Silver (@MikeSilver) March 14, 2016
The whole exchange was a little odd. The Broncos traded their 2016 fourth round pick to the Baltimore Ravens for Gino Gradkowski. They have a fourth round comp pick, but those are not tradeable until the 2017 NFL Draft.
This would seem to be why the Broncos would be willing to offer up their late third. They view Kap as worth a fourth, the 49ers can get a high third from the Browns, so the Broncos are thus willing to offer up their late third. Or, they want something back from the 49ers to make a third round pick happen. Or, if they think Kap is worth a 2016 4th, maybe they are willing to offer up a 2017 3rd since future picks are often bumped up a round in exchange for a current year pick.