Vikings Given Seventh-Best Odds to Sign Colin Kaepernick

Vegas sportsbook BetOnline has given the Vikings the seventh-best odds (8/1) of any team in the NFL to sign free agent quarterback Colin Kaepernick.

Odds on Colin Kaepernick's next team

Ravens - 9/4
Seahawks - 11/4
Texans - 4/1
Chargers - 9/2
Chiefs - 6/1
Jaguars - 15/2
Vikings - 8/1
Titans - 10/1
Eagles - 12/1

👉 https://t.co/iPzGpTwhjA pic.twitter.com/I3gAFmi9fz
— BetOnline (@BetOnline_ag) June 19, 2020

Everyone knows Kaepernick's story. The former 49ers quarterback became the first and most prominent player to kneel during the national anthem before games in 2016 in a peaceful protest against police brutality and social injustice. He became a free agent after that season and hasn't played an NFL down since then, with the league's 32 owners essentially blackballing him from the league due to his activism.

Somehow, Kaepernick protesting against police brutality became a massive political topic. Millions of people saw his protest as disrespectful to the flag and the military, despite the fact that Kaepernick took advice from Green Beret and former NFL player Nate Boyer on how to respectfully protest (and the fact that the military fights for the right of Americans to have free speech).

In 2020, Kaepernick's name has resurfaced after the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police – as well as the recent deaths of Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor – sparked nationwide protests. Unsurprisingly, it's becoming more and more obvious that Kaepernick was completely justified in taking a knee.

But will a team actually sign him this year? I'm skeptical. Keeping him out of the league in 2017 was a business decision, as he was clearly one of the 32 most talented quarterbacks in the NFL at that time. A few years later, he's absolutely still better than a lot of backups in the league. But will a team actually pull the trigger? And does Kaepernick want to be a backup at this point, or would he view being signed now as a PR stunt?

If any team does sign Kaepernick, it's not going to be the Vikings. That's pretty obvious. He would instantly become the second-best quarterback on Minnesota's roster, as Sean Mannion is one of the worst backups in the league. But given Mike Zimmer's old school, no-distractions approach to coaching, I would be absolutely stunned to see that happen. Kaep's dual-threat style of play is also probably better suited for other offensive schemes, even though that's a cop-out excuse.

I get why the Vikings are fairly high on this odds list, given their backup QB situation and the potential for making a major statement. The killing of Floyd happened right in the Vikings' backyard, and one former NFL executive argued that the Vikings were the perfect team to sign him.

But it's not going to happen. GM Rick Spielman wouldn't even touch the conversation when it was brought up during the team's recent Zoom press conference on racial injustice. He claimed he wanted to focus on the topic at hand, even though Kaepernick couldn't possibly be more related to the topic. That tells me that it's not something the Vikings are even remotely considering.

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