Why The New England Patriots Should Not Sign Colin Kaepernick

In these days in which apologies, discontent and pandering are the new modes of human interaction, we as observers and fans of sports often find ourselves lost in a morass of 'hot takes', opinions of the minute and literature/rants meant to elicit emotion rather than inform. Today, I read an article in the Boston Globe which lobbied for the New England Patriots to sign former San Francisco 49ers quarterback, Colin Kaepernick for altruistic, restorative, public relations driven and benevolent reasons. If you are one who has been whipped into a social justice frenzy and peer through the lens of the author, I truly understand if you believe that a valid point was made. However, from an objective point of view, this article was clearly written in order for the author to 'watch the puppets dance' in the comments section as they completely miss an opportunity to evaluate whether Kaepernick is a good fit with the Patriots and relegate themselves to jousting with politically inspired group-think speak. After reading the toxic waste which concerned flags, knees and anthems, I decided to chime in and provide the politics and ideology-free reasons why Colin wouldn't be a good fit on the Patriots. The responses from complete strangers inspired me to create The 4 Corners and share a slightly edited but detailed observation of my comment, so read on and enjoy.

First: Colin is a one read quarterback; as soon as he sees that the primary option is covered, he is quick to bail on the play. He ran a read option offense in college at the University of Nevada and Jim Harbaugh's staff with the 49ers installed it in order for Colin to acclimate to the NFL. The offensive coordinator at the time, Greg Roman, already had read option concepts integrated into the playbook as the starter Alex Smith, was a read option quarterback when he was in college at the University of Utah. Smith was in the midst of his finest year as a pro, but got hurt. Colin became the starter and the one read system he executed was predicated upon him being able to run and/or have a second option underneath before he runs if his primary option is not available. Roman is currently the offensive coordinator for the Baltimore Ravens where Lamar Jackson, a read option quarterback as well, has been under his tutelage. Although Jackson ran a read option offense in his college career, elements of pro style offense systems were installed in order to prepare him for the next level, which accelerated his growth from dynamic offensive weapon to Heisman Trophy winner into the 2019 NFL MVP.

The system that Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels runs is not accomodating to read option quarterbacks as there is a ton of information that must be processed pre- and post-snap. Players with little to no experience in this system are rarely thrown to the wolves unless catasrophe has struck and they generally have to sit and learn. Tim Tebow was a one read quarterback coming out of the University of Florida and he quickly became an NFL journeyman as he could not show the ability to absorb a pro-style offense and execute within the game plan. McDaniels was able to buck the trend with Jacoby Brissett when disaster indeed struck in 2016 when Tom Brady was suspended and his backup, Jimmy Garrapolo was injured. However, look what happened...he got injured during a designed run and became ineffective because most read option heavy quarterbacks are often exposed to massive hits (which is why I am advocating for Lamar Jackson to get paid NOW, rather than waiting any longer as he has proven himself). Speaking of injuries...

Second: Colin has injury concerns. He is a natural quarter to sidearm-delivery passer and has had a shoulder injury (labrum) that necessitated a surgical procedure. Side arm passers with shoulder injuries must be scrutinized carefully before any coach puts him on he field. Any coach should rightfully be concerned about how many bad habits or muscle memory born issues that may crop up during game action, especially after such a long layoff. Doing the route tree in a park with scrubs is quite different than throwing against a Stephon Gilmore or a Derwin James as a Von Miller or a Bosa brother bears down on him. With the shoulder, how much faster will he bail on a play and not stand in there and deliver the ball? The Patriots are trying to smoothly segue to the next guy to handle the reigns of a quarterback situation that for the first time in 20 years is wide open; why invest in a player who they are not sure can run their system, has no experience in it, comes with legitimate injury concerns and is returning from a layoff of almost five years? Secondly, why bring in a guy who is trying to learn the system and would take snaps away from the guys who have been in it?

Third: He was an average quarterback when he was healthy. That Super Bowl year was an outlier as the defense totally throttled teams and helped create favorable field position so the pressure fell away from Colin (see 49ers-Patriots 2012). After that 12-4 record, Colin's record as a starter went as follows: 8-8, 2-6 and 1-10. When the 49ers defense suffered from injury, premature retirement and organizational self-sabotaging ineptness shortly thereafter, the pressure was on, the margin of error grossly shrank and Colin could not get his team in the end zone enough to win games. It is easy to be an analytic/stat guy, but the information can easily be fudged to fit any narrative; that's why I always focus on whether the team wins games with a certain quarterback in the starting lineup. Colin's career record as a starter in the NFL is 28-30, which is just about perfectly average. Once again, why settle for an average free agent guy when the Patriots may have the next guy already in the building?

Fourth: Locker room issues...no, not that dog and pony political game people are playing now. There are numerous stories about Kaepernick dating a girlfriend of a teammate (ex-or not), which is a no no within sports culture. If this is true, it is a deal-breaker that emanates not from the front office, but the locker room. A spotty reputation can be overlooked if you are a grunt in the trenches, but if you are the guy leading a team, it just won't work due to trust issues and character concerns among the players. (we saw what happened with Derek Fisher and will see how that plays out with Drew Brees) Colin is a serviceable fallback option for a desperate team looking for positive PR. However, what comes with him can easily throw off the dynamics of a team because the media will not only focus solely on him, but there is also a high probability that it will attempt to divide the room along ideological lines. Just the effort exerted in deflecting the baiting questions is enough to wear on players.

In summation, a desperate team with a disenchanted fan base could garner some good media-based equity by investing in a mobile, one-dimensional player with injury and possible reputation concerns that has not played in the NFL for almost 5 years. He may arrive with demands (through his representation or media induced pressure) to play immediately to the detriment of developing talent. If he falters or is stuck holding the clipboard because he is not performing well, the team also faces a PR crisis if they cut or don't play him. In this case, public opinion becomes the de facto general manager or coach of the team, which is not conducive to winning. For ANY team, that in particular is a huge risk. It is for these football/business-related reasons that it makes no sense for the Patriots to sign Colin Kaepernick.