Things are about to get at least a little bit awkward. The San Francisco 49ers open their offseason workout program on Monday, and quarterback Colin Kaepernick is expected to show up, according to Tim Kawakami. Kaepernick has been the subject of numerous trade rumors, and the expectation for many is that he will end up with the Denver Broncos. However, a trade is not complete, and he has a $400,000 workout bonus in his 49ers contract.
Cam Inman first reported on March 16 that Kaepernick planned on reporting to camp. His workout bonus requires 90 percent participation in the offseason workout program. Kaepernick can show up to the 49ers program just to be safe and go from there. However, if he were to choose to stay home, he is not necessarily going to forfeit the bonus.
The 49ers begin their program Monday, April 4, because they have a new head coach. The Broncos do not begin their program until Monday, April 18, because they return with the same head coach. If Kaepernick skips the 49ers program until he is traded, he could still get to Denver in time for their entire program. Of course, given the rest of the contract negotiation going on, they could easily figure out a way to negotiate that out of any restructured deal.
For now though, it appears Kaepernick will arrive and the two sides will have to make nice for the time being. This does get at least a little bit interesting if Kaepernick shows up. He will be focused on rehab, but he will get plenty of face-time with new head coach Chip Kelly. All of us expected Alex Smith to depart in 2011, but Jim Harbaugh arrived and things were never the same. This is a bit of a different scenario, but who knows what some bonding can do to this relationship. I still think Kaepernick ends up in Denver sometime soon, but this situation is far from resolved.