It’s not a decision they can make without the owner.įloating his name like this in the locker room and in the public can serve as a trial balloon - a way to gauge the reaction and/or put some pressure on owner Steve Biscotti. But Kaepernick isn’t a player the GM and head coach can just sign because he’s got the talent and addresses a need the team has. Newsome and Harbaugh may see a quarterback who’s a big upgrade at backup and one who will keep the team competitive if Flacco’s back injury creates more problems during the season. These are guys who fill a specific need for the team, usually as kind of a one- or two-year stopgap, who aren’t the most expensive players on the market for one reason or another. They’re players like Anquan Boldin, Steve Smith, Owen Daniels, Chris Canty, and Will Hill. Kaepernick fits a pattern for the kind of veteran free agents Ozzie Newsome has signed over the years. This could also be a case of Harbaugh publicly lobbying the team’s owner to let them sign Kaepernick. Harbaugh may have put Kaepernick’s name out there last week because he knew he’d get asked about him. It’s harder to defend that notion given the reports out of Baltimore this week. He also said at the time that he didn’t believe Kaepernick was being blackballed. In March, he echoed his brother Jim’s (Kaepernick’s former coach with the 49ers) assessment that Kaepernick “ can win games for people.” Harbaugh’s expressed his support for Kaepernick in the past. Coaches and general managers are conditioned to be notoriously tight-lipped about player acquisitions. Usually someone reports a team is interested in a player, information they most likely got via a team source or an agent, and maybe someone with the team will confirm in a follow-up with reporters. It’s unusual in the first place for a coaches to talk openly about players they’re considering to add to the roster. This the strangest part about the story, so far. He's a really good football player and like I said, I do believe he'll be playing in the National Football League this year." The Ravens mentioned Kaepernick before the media. "He's a guy right now that's being talked about,” Harbaugh said Thursday, less than a day after Flacco’s injury. Last Thursday, head coach John Harbaugh took the unusual step of mentioning Kaepernick as a roster possibility to the press. The team’s self-aggrandizing hand-wringing over the question of signing Kaepernick has exposed a rift within the organization and reminded everyone of the hypocrisy of those deciding on Kaepernick's playing future. 2 QB spot and give them a reliable starter should Flacco miss more time during the season. In the days since then, the Ravens have been talking publicly about their private deliberations over signing Colin Kaepernick to upgrade the No. The Ravens backup quarterback, Ryan Mallett, has been struggling on the practice field. He finished the year with nine touchdown passes and 12 interceptions, going 3-6 in his nine starts.Īfter that he latched on with the Arizona Cardinals, making three appearances for the team in 2019, before joining the Ravens and serving as the third-stringer behind Lamar Jackson and Tyler Huntley.Joe Flacco has been on the shelf with a bad back since last Wednesday. He started nine games for the Packers in 2017, completing 60.8% of his pass attempts for 1,836 yards. He spent the first few years of his career as the backup in Green Bay, but got some opportunity on the gridiron in 2017 when Rodgers went down with an injury. The Packers drafted Hundley out of UCLA in the fifth round of the 2015 NFL Draft. The former Packers quarterback, who fans once hoped could be the heir apparent to Aaron Rodgers, will now look to latch on with his fourth NFL team since joining the league in 2015.Īnother unexpected cut: #Ravens are releasing backup QB Brett Hundley, per PFN. There was a notable surprise among the cuts on Tuesday as the Ravens shockingly moved on from third-string quarterback Brett Hundley, according to Dov Kleima n. The Baltimore Ravens narrowed their roster down to 85 players on Tuesday, trimming the number down from 90 members ahead of the team's second preseason game.
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