Seahawks Pass Over Colin Kaepernick In Favor of Some Guy

Because you’re going to need it, here’s the Wikipedia page on “Austin Davis,” who is the newest member of the Seattle Seahawks, to the chagrin of unemployed activist quarterback Colin Kaepernick.

Davis was a walk-on at Southern Miss, but was named the team’s starting quarterback as a redshirt freshman in 2008. That year he broke Brett Favre’s freshman passing touchdown record and in 2012 Davis signed as an undrafted free agent with the St. Louis Rams. He has appeared in 13 NFL games, most recently in 2015 as a member of the Cleveland Browns. He was cut by the Broncos in February.

So this is quite a blow for Kaepernick, who is just a year older than Davis but has a much more extensive NFL resume, with 57 starts and about 14,500 total offensive yards to his name.

Coincidentally, Broncos vice president for football operations John Elway reportedly had designs on acquiring Kaepernick as recently as last April, according to John Clayton.

"With Manning’s retirement and the decision not to throw $18 million a year at Brock Osweiler, Elway is back at it again. He’s trying to find the team’s next franchise quarterback."

"Elway’s first move was trading a conditional draft pick for Mark Sanchez, who has started 10 games over the past two seasons. Elway didn’t stop there. He identified Colin Kaepernick as his next target — at a certain price. He placed a fourth-round value on Kaepernick and wanted the 49ers QB to accept a salary reduction that would pay him $14 million over the next two years. For now, Kaepernick won’t take the pay cut."

A lot has changed regarding Kaepernick since April of 2016, obviously. Elway wound up addressing his quarterback needs with Trevor Siemian, Paxton Lynch and Chad Kelly. Despite some cheering from the press, the Seahawks decided they’d be better off without Kaepernick too. For one thing, his asking price was likely a lot higher than Davis’, perhaps allowing the Seahawks to fill that roster spot on the cheap for a couple years.

It seems fairly clear now that Kaepernick would not be unemployed had he not made himself an activist last season. But it’s equally clear that if he could play like Cam Newton, he wouldn’t be having this problem, either. It’s fair to say Kaepernick deserves a spot in the NFL, but then you run into the problem of identifying which team, exactly, is responsible for giving it to him.

Seattle was thought by many to be an ideal spot for Kaepernick. That may be the case, but it still takes two to make a deal.