Elway: Kap had chance to be Bronco, ‘passed’

12:02 pm | August 16, 2018 | Go to Source | Author:

3:57 PM ET

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — As the Denver Broncos try to decide what they’ll do to find a backup quarterback, president of football operations/general manager John Elway said Thursday that Colin Kaepernick would not be a consideration.

In a week when the Broncos demoted Paxton Lynch to the No. 3 quarterback and working second-year quarterback Chad Kelly as the No. 2, Elway has not ruled out signing a veteran to be Case Keenum‘s backup.

Thursday he was asked if Kaepernick was “a viable option.” Elway gave a deposition in May for Kaepernick’s lawyers in Kaepernick’s collusion case against the NFL. Kaepernick attended the deposition.

“You know what, and I said this a while ago, Colin had his chance to be here, we offered him a contract and he didn’t take it,” Elway said. “As I said in my deposition … he had his chance to be here, he passed it.”

Elway met with Kaepernick twice in 2016 as the Broncos and San Francisco 49ers tried to work out a trade that would have sent Kaepernick to Denver. At the time, the Broncos wanted to trim Kaepernick’s guaranteed salary from $11.9 million to $7 million, whether that would mean the 49ers would either pay the difference or Kaepernick would simply take the pay cut.

After several rounds of discussion between the two teams as well as a face-to-face meeting between Elway and Kaepernick at Elway’s house, a deal was not completed.

The team’s trade for Kaepernick fell though just weeks before the 2016 draft and the Broncos traded up in the first round that year to select Lynch.

“You know what, and I said this a while ago, Colin had his chance to be here, we offered him a contract and he didn’t take it. As I said in my deposition … he had his chance to be here, he passed it.”

John Elway

Elway has signed a quarterback who had spurned him previously when he brought back Brock Osweiler last season. Osweiler had left the Broncos in free agency in 2016 to become one of the highest-paid players in the league with a deal from the Houston Texans.

When the Broncos brought Osweiler back last season, Osweiler had already been traded by the Texans to the Cleveland Browns and then released. Osweiler was also being paid a guaranteed $16 million from the Browns and signed a contract for the minimum base salary with the Broncos.

Kaepernick, who was the first player to kneel during the national anthem before a game to raise awareness for social justice issues, has not played since the 2016 season.

Powered by WPeMatico