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Colin Kaepernick has spent months openly training for an NFL return. He has posted workout videos and even showed off his skills at Michigan, thanks to former San Francisco 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh. A workout with the Las Vegas Raiders was also conducted, but he remains a man without a team.
It is widely accepted that NFL owners colluded against the quarterback to keep him out of the league because of his kneeling protest in 2016. The 49ers released him after the season, and his simple act was enough to enrage the league enough to the point where no one signed him, not even as a backup.
Kaepernick is 34 years old and had months to find a new team. Yet rosters have been filled, and it looks like he will not be given another chance. That means he can look elsewhere to continue his professional football career.
The XFL remains his top option if the league can meet a few parameters.
Colin Kaepernick was linked to the XFL before
The quarterback was in the same boat a few years ago, in 2020, when the XFL made its initial return. However, the league had a small salary structure that did not match what he wanted. It was nowhere close. That made sense for a new league, which folded anyway due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The league is set to return in 2023 with a new, high-profile ownership group led by Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. The third iteration of the XFL can correct previous mistakes and even look towards someone like Kaepernick to be a big name on the field from the start. Most startup leagues are filled with NFL castoffs, so this would be a nice change.
So how can they get him? That may require a salary commitment of nearly $10 million for the initial season. The question remains if that is even possible, considering most leagues of this kind have a uniform structure for all players because of the day-to-day financial constraints of a startup operation.
But let's say the league can give the player what he wants. Would he take the opportunity? It seems clear that Kaepernick does indeed want to play football again, and not just to make a political statement. He may, in fact, miss and love the game.
The new XFL, led by Johnson, has had time to study the new USFL and formulate a better plan than its predecessor. Its goal is to become a permanent spring league, and it is already set in terms of television partners. Getting Kaepernick would boost ratings from the start and make him an instant star.
A solid performance could convince NFL teams to give him another chance, or he may settle upon the idea of being the star of the XFL before getting a proper finale to his football career.
If the price is right, the choice is his to make. And if he loves football, it seems like an easy decision. Why return to a league that did not want you and made it such a point to keep you out?
