Colin Kaepernick should go to the Jacksonville Jaguars according to Peter King

By not addressing the quarterback position in free agency, it appears the Jaguars are sticking with Blake Bortles… or are they? Peter King points to Colin Kaepernick instead.

The NFL offseason is never a boring period of time and this year is no different. Between the Oakland Raiders announcing a move to Las Vegas and some unusual trades (adios Brock Osweiler), there is no shortage of topics to discuss.

One storyline that has become fascinating to follow is the perceived boycott of quarterback Colin Kaepernick. It’s still startling to consider Kaepernick’s precipitous fall from grace after starting in the Super Bowl only 4 years ago. It started with the departure of head coach Jim Harbaugh and came to a head last year when Kaepernick started the season behind Blaine freaking Gabbert on the depth chart.

Now a free agent, Kaepernick has yet to find a home.

Peter King found time to discuss Colin Kaepernick in his most recent Monday Morning Quarterback Column, but surprisingly enough he got the Jaguars involved:

"2. I think the best fit for Colin Kaepernick is Jacksonville. And I don’t want to hear anything about how bringing in Kaepernick is going to be a knock to the confidence of Blake Bortles. This is a performance business, and Bortles held back a team with his poor play last year. The Jaguars can’t risk 2017 being a rerun, not with the money and draft capital they’ve spent to build a good defense."

There are numerous reasons why Kaepernick is still a free agent, but first and foremost is his tape. It’s much more interesting to discuss Kaepernicks “baggage,” but it’s monstrously misleading to try and attribute his lack of employment entirely to his political views.

At a glance, Kaepernick put up some decent numbers last year (16 TDs, 4 INTs, 59.2 completion %, 6.8 yards per attempt in 12 games), and he objectively was better than Blake Bortles last year. In that respect, Peter King is right to discuss Jacksonville as a reasonable option for Kaepernick.

Still, it doesn’t really matter because it’s not going to happen. I’m not against the idea of Kaepernick in a vacuum, but I just don’t think he would really be that significant an upgrade over Bortles. Bortles was uber-productive in 2015 and he showed just enough in the final games of 2016 for me to want to see what he can do with a functional head coach in 2017.

All that said, I wouldn’t be upset if the Jaguars brought Kaepernick in. Whether or not they propped it up as an actual quarterback competition, lighting a fire under Bortles while taking a flier on Kaepernick seems like a savvy move.