The San Francisco 49ers and Colin Kaepernick are picking up contract extension talks again this offseason after things stopped following news about a police investigation in Florida regarding the quarterback and while this is very unlikely, the Niners could look at trading Kaepernick in the future if he asks for too much money and clogs up the salary cap.
The two sides are picking up talks again after breaking them off earlier in the offseason and the last reports from ESPN.com wrote that Kaepernick was looking for Jay Cutler money, meaning between $18 million and $20 million per year on his deal. According to the report, Kaepernick is making just $1.073 million this season as part of the final year of his four year rookie contract and that obviously is a bargain for a player that has gone to the Super Bowl and the NFL championship game in his first two playoff runs for the Niners.
Kaepernick has been great over the start of his career since taking over for Alex Smith and Harbaugh has had nothing but praise for him since then, Kaep is 21-8 over his career as a starter and has now been to two NFC championship games in his first two seasons and he also lost the Super Bowl to the Ravens. There have been reports over the past couple years about friction between Harbaugh and GM Trent Baalke and that could come into play now and in the future regarding Kaerpnick's contract, as it will be a huge number for the team to build with.
Harbaugh and Baalke have done a great job together despite not always seeing eye to eye and now that relationship will be tested again if Kaepernick plays hard ball. He has some leverage based on the way he has played in his career, but with him coming off of his rookie deal, it could be an issue that he wants to get paid like some of the more established quarterbacks in the league. Kaepernick has been an electric player, but stats wise he is no Peyton Manning or Tom Brady or even a Jay Cutler when it comes to passing the ball and that could create an issue if he wants to get paid like one.
Last season the Niners were ranked near the bottom of the league in passing and while Kaep may improve, his numbers don't equal up to that contract. Kaepernick has a weapon in his legs and that is one reason why he can ask for that much money, as he has nearly 1,000 yards rushing in his career, but that's still a ton of money for a QB who isn't a classic passer. Kaepernick has been very durable and that is big ion contract talks and he is coming off his best season after passing for 3,197 yards and 21 touchdowns along with 524 rushing yards. Kaepernick completed less than 60 percent of his passes last season and he needs to look at improving that as well. Things likely will get resolved this offseason, but there is always a chance a trade goes down if he asks for too much cash money.