San Francisco 49ers: Saga Surrounding Quarterback Colin Kaepernick Now Deafeningly Quiet

Not long ago, all signs pointed to San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick being dealt out of the Niners organization after the embattled signal-caller requested a trade. With this speculation now gone, all the drama surrounding Kaepernick has gone awfully quiet.

Remember the three-way argument going back and forth between the San Francisco 49ers, their quarterback Colin Kaepernick and a potential trade suitor in the Denver Broncos earlier this spring?

“He’s around us, he’s in the meetings, he’s doing a great job… Whenever they say he’s healthy, he’ll be out there” – offensive coordinator Curtis Modkins on Colin Kaepernick

This was front-page news in early April, and all signs pointed to Kaepernick wearing another jersey by the start of the 2016 season. But then the trade was held up. Contractual issues, not surprisingly, stood in the way between Kaepernick being moved to Denver.

And the Broncos put to rest any suggestion they’d continue a pursuit after the team drafted former Memphis quarterback Paxton Lynch in the 2016 NFL Draft.

So Kaepernick, after months of standoff and speculation, would remain in San Francisco after all.

Instead of the situation being awkward or frustrating, Kap and his situation with the 49ers is, well, quiet. Almost uneventful.

Weird.

Well, is it? No, it shouldn’t be.

For starters, Kaepernick is in line to collect workout bonuses for his attendance during San Francisco’s voluntary offseason programs. He’s had perfect attendance so far, and all signs have pointed to him being very much involved with whatever he can.

Of course, Kaepernick isn’t totally cleared to practice just yet. Remember, he had surgeries on his non-throwing shoulder, thumb and knee this offseason and spent recovery time in Vail, Colorado.

But at least the relationship between Kaepernick and his employers doesn’t seem to be tenuous, at least according to offensive coordinator Curtis Modkins (h/t Cam Inman of the San Jose Mercury News):

Modkins also noted there isn’t any timetable for Kaepernick’s return. The 49ers are wrapping up their final week of OTAs, and Kaepernick has resumed some throwing drills, per CSN Bay Area’s Matt Maiocco and Niners Nation correspondent Jennifer Chan.

From all this, we can assume Kaepernick is being a good teammate — a good team player. This shouldn’t be surprising. After all, rumors have already swirled about Kaepernick “losing the locker room” before. And why would the quarterback want to endanger any future he has with his teammates? It doesn’t make sense.

But Kap’s relationship with the front office is another matter.

It’s no secret Kaepernick’s rapport with general manager Trent Baalke and Co. isn’t the best. All the leaks and rumors about Kaepernick’s future, dating back to the Jim Harbaugh era, have left stains and likely influenced Kap’s trade request earlier this offseason.

CBS Sports’ Jason La Canfora (h/t @grantmp of Niners Nation) appeared on Ross Tucker of SB Nation’s podcast and had some interesting points to make about the current relationship:

"In the meantime, he’ll keep a very low profile. He’ll try to say and do the right things. But that was such a deep cut. And there was so much…not even animosity, but just such a lack of trust! When you’re a quarterback and you’ve taken a team to a Super Bowl and should just be entering your prime…and yeah, he got hurt, and yeah, his play declined, and we can go through all that—he also had nothing around him.But you literally don’t trust the GM, you don’t trust the doctors, you don’t trust the owner himself! That’s a lot to try to repair over the course of a few weeks now that he’s finally back from Colorado where he was rehabbing and in the building."

La Canfora pointed out the Niners’ shopping of Kaepernick prior to the draft as another reason why Kap would be disgruntled. But, as the Niners Nation post points out, Kaepernick requested the trade.

San Francisco made the effort, it didn’t happen, time to move on.

But the part of La Canfora’s statement which does make sense is Kaepernick keeping “a very low profile.”

Why would he do anything else? Kaepernick has been a quiet personality for most of his NFL career, so that’s not surprising. And he’s smart enough to realize the 49ers aren’t simply going to hand him the starting job in 2016.

This prompts the question — does Kaepernick wind up securing the No. 1 spot at quarterback, or will it go to fellow QB Blaine Gabbert?

There’s a mixed bag of responses. It doesn’t take long to look around and see some pundits suggesting Gabbert is the better fit under head coach Chip Kelly. And, obviously, many others have pointed out how Kelly could be the guy to resurrect Kap’s career.

For what it’s worth, CBS Sports’ Benjamin Allbright reported Kelly is leaning a little more towards Kaepernick:

So the quarterback situation in San Francisco leads us to yet another reason why this saga has been totally quiet.

Kaepernick’s long-term future may be in doubt. In all reality, he’s fighting for it right now. If Kaepernick wins the starting job, everyone around the league would look at him and say, “he asked for a trade, it didn’t happen and now Kap did what he had to do in order to put himself in a situation to win.”

Nothing wrong with that.

And yet if Gabbert wins out the starting gig, the same scenario applies only with a flipped script.

The major difference would be other NFL teams being turned off by a quarterback, continuing to fuel — and being fueled by — rumors and speculation from every which direction. Who would want a quarterback, who couldn’t beat out Gabbert in camp, coming in with a stained reputation?

Kaepernick knows this. And so do the 49ers.

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So this is where things now stand. Aside from the position competition — and drama here simply can’t be avoided — and Kap’s surgery recovery, there just isn’t any buzz or whirlwind of rumors going on right now.

It’s a strange thing, considering how hectic and toxic the situation appeared not long ago.

For both Kaepernick and the 49ers, this is exactly what needs to happen. Those rumors from earlier this year are poison to a team in transition. And any subsequent locker-room dissension or conflict doesn’t help either.

Not for Kap’s future career, and not for San Francisco.

Let things be quiet. It’s just fine.

Next: Why Colin Kaepernick Will Progress in 2016

All statistics, records and accolades courtesy of Pro-Football-Reference.com and Sports-Reference.com unless otherwise indicated.