More than five years since he last appeared in an NFL game, Colin Kaepernick received arguably his best chance at returning to the league.
The Las Vegas Raiders worked out the 34-year-old free agent quarterback, who last played in the NFL in 2016, the same year he started kneeling during the national anthem in protest of racial injustice.
According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, Kaepernick’s workout with the Raiders went well.
“On Colin Kaepernick’s workout with the Raiders: Sounds like it went well and he impressed,” Rapoport tweeted. “The door is open.”
“The fact that the Raiders are gonna have him workout today tells you that there has to be some level of interest in signing him,” ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Wednesday on NFL Live. “That this is not just some cursory look at a free-agent quarterback. Nobody else has been willing to do what the Raiders are doing today.”
“No one knows exactly the shape he’s in, nobody knows exactly how he would handle the offense, so the Raiders are gonna bring him in, take a look, [and] see what he’s about,” he added.
The Raiders are reportedly looking to see if Kaepernick would be a good fit in a quarterback room that already includes Derek Carr as the team’s starter.
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Kaepernick stated in a podcast interview last month that he “absolutely” wants to play in the league again and was even willing to return to the league as a backup quarterback, which is exactly what he would be if he got signed by the team.
“Five years of training behind the scenes,” Kaepernick told former NFL stars Brandon Marshall, Chad Johnson, and Pacman Jones during an interview with the “I AM ATHLETE” podcast. “You don’t do that if you don’t have a passion, and you don’t believe you’re gonna find a way on that field.”
“I know I have to find my way back in. So yeah. If I have to come in as a backup, that’s fine,” he said. “But that’s not where I’m staying. And when I prove that I’m a starter, I want to be able to step on the field as such. I just need that opportunity to walk through the door.”
Kaepernick threw for 12,271 yards and 72 touchdowns over six seasons with San Francisco.
