The San Francisco 49ers trade talks with the Denver Broncos seemed to hit a bit of a lull recently, but the subject is far from dead. Eric Branch is reporting quarterback Colin Kaepernick has met with Broncos general manager John Elway at least twice since March 15, and as recently as this past Thursday.
The 49ers gave Kaepernick permission to pursue a trade, which allows him to meet with other teams. Without permission, that would be illegal tampering since he remains under contract to the 49ers. Kaepernick has been handling his rehab in Vail, Colorado, which is 100 miles down the road from Denver.
Kaepernick's salary became fully guaranteed when Kaepernick was on the roster on Friday, but a trade remains a firm possibility. There would likely be a salary re-negotiation to get a deal done. There have been other reports suggesting Kaepernick would not want to take a pay cut, but I have heard otherwise. There was also a report suggesting Elway asked Kaepernick to take as much as a 50 percent cut. That would certainly be a sizable amount, but there are plenty of details that would need to be worked out in any such contract negotiation.
The Broncos currently have Mark Sanchez and Trevor Siemian as their only quarterbacks. They will not go into the season with just those two. The most likely time period for a trade would seemingly be on day one, or early on day two of the draft, depending on how the quarterbacks are moving.
The San Francisco 49ers open their offseason workout program on Monday, April 4, and all indications are that Kaepernick will be on hand. The first phase of the program is two weeks of strength and conditioning work. Kaepernick would continue his rehab process throughout this. There is no on-field coaching, but I believe they will be able to do classroom work as well. Although Kaepernick might not be a 49er by the end of the program, the 49ers do not play the Broncos until 2018, I believe. Getting a look at Chip Kelly's playbook would not be problematic in that regard.