Colin Kaepernick Trade Rumors Are Probably Not True, But ...

Colin Kaepernick was Jim Harbaugh’s discovery. The pre-2011 draft stories are legendary: Harbaugh was intrigued by the wiry 6-foot-4 kid from Nevada who improved each year in college and slayed an unbeaten Boise State team. Kaepernick wasn’t getting much love when the draft rolled around (see Mel Kiper’s reaction at the 5:15 mark here, followed by Mike Mayock’s).

Harbaugh convinced his GM to trade with Denver and move up to the 36th pick to get his guy. As detailed in this 2011 story, Harbaugh first heard about Kaepernick through his QB at Stanford, Andrew Luck. When Harbaugh went to Kaepernick’s house, the two clicked immediately. They played 1-on-1 basketball. It was love at first sight.

So it was no surprise that as Harbaugh guided the 49ers to the NFC Championship game three years in a row, Kaepernick was instrumental in two of them.

Not surprisingly, when the 49ers and Harbaugh clashed in 2014, Kaepernick struggled. Then, Harbaugh was canned.

So what becomes of his guy, Kaepernick?

Twitter roared with rumors of Kaepernick being on the trading block Sunday night, but San Francisco 49ers GM Trent Baalke awoke from his offseason slumber (adios Frank Gore, Michael Crabtree, Justin Smith and maybe Patrick Willis) to say they were not true. SF, so desperate to put out this 5-alarm fire, got ESPN’s Adam Schefter to shoot down the rumor.

Could this simply be a game of telephone where Kaepernick is telling friends that he’s unhappy with all the changes, and doesn’t want to play there anymore? Perhaps.

San Francisco just gave him a massive contract, but his rabbi is gone. His teammates are gone. The team is going through a transition year … and he’s got to guide them through it? Maybe he wants no part of that and would rather move on.

Then the question becomes – what if Chip Kelly senses this, and swoops in with a trade to pry Kaepernick from the 49ers? San Francisco has no other QBs on the roster, and quick, does anyone have a connection between Baalke and Nick Foles?