Colin Kaepernick’s Work Out Finally Pays Off for 1 Specific Player
While most NFL rosters are set by the end of the summer, all 32 teams had a unique opportunity to sign a promising player last month. In the middle of November, Colin Kaepernick returned to the football field; the quarterback held a workout to prove that he was still ready to play. While there was some drama that day, the workout came and went without a contract offer.
This week, however, the Washington Redskins sprung into action. With their season winding down, the club stepped in with a contract offer for one specific player.
Colin Kaepernick’s controversial workout
In early November, Colin Kaepernick returned to the headlines. A story broke that the quarterback would take part in an NFL-sanctioned workout; he would take at the Atlanta Falcons’ practice facility, and members of every NFL front office were welcome to attend. At the last minute, however, everything took a surprising turn.
On the day of the workout, however, Kaepernick pulled and scheduling his own independent session at a nearby high school. While six teams, including the Washington Redskins, still showed up, two conflicting narratives overshadowed anything that happened on the field. Some asserted that the sudden change was a PR stunt, designed to further the perception that Kaepernick is a martyr; others suggested that the quarterback wanted to avoid being taken advantage of and shrugged off the NFL’s attempts at control.
Either way, Kaepernick’s on-field performance garnered rave reviews. Despite suggestions that the quarterback could solve several team’s offensive issues, no one came forward with a contract offer.
The workout pays off for one specific wide receiver
While Colin Kaepernick was the main man working out in November, he wasn’t the only player on the field. He was joined by a handful of wide receivers, one of whom landed a contract based on his performance.
That receiver is Jordan Veasy, who recently joined Washington’s practice squad. Shortly after being cut from the Buffalo Bills’ practice squad, the receiver head about Kaepernick’s workout; since he had returned home to Georgia, and had previously met the quarterback at UC Berkeley, he reached out and agreed to participate. “I was going to be in Gadsden running routes anyway,” Veasy told Sam Fortier of The Washington Post. “Might as well run ’em in front of some scouts.”
On that fateful day, Veasy caught a 50-yard bomb from Kaepernick; that was enough to earn him a tryout with the Browns and, eventually, a spot on the Redskins practice squad. “It helped,” the 24-year-old said. “That’s one of the reasons I wanted to be a part of it. Just being a part of the history of it, and I knew it was going to help me.”
Colin Kaepernick should be the next player to sign
At the end of the day, everything worked out for Jordan Veasy; he got to help out Kaepernick—the receiver noted that he believes in the quarterback’s cause—and earned an NFL job. Colin Kaepernick, however, should be the next one to sign a contract.
Given his talent and the state of some NFL rosters, there’s no way the Kaepernick shouldn’t have a job. While some quarterbacks are brought in as saviors, plenty of players aren’t expected to lead their club to the Super Bowl; they’re simply the brought in to do a job. Even if he’s not the long-term answer under center, Kaepernick is still good enough to start for more than a few NFL teams.
