Broncos may have helped guarantee Kaepernick's contract

Earlier this month it seemed like a safe bet that Colin Kaepernick would be heading to the Denver Broncos and would likely be the starting quarterback despite the recent signing of quarterback Mark Sanchez.

The Cleveland Browns were interested in Kaepernick, the Broncos were interested in Kaepernick and for a time there seemed to even be a bidding war. Declarations of a 3rd round pick being the ask and further declarations that a 3rd round pick had been offered.

There seemed to be suggestions from San Francisco media that Denver offered a 4th, further digging by some seemed to suggest that it was a 3rd round, but since Denver did not have a tradeable 2016 3rd round pick, deductive reasoning would declare that it was 2017 3rd round pick (the 2016 draft equivalent to a 4th).

When Robert Griffin III signed with Cleveland sources would leak that the Browns were never really in the Kaepernick sweepstakes.

And apparently neither were the New York Jets, the Jets were at times a dark horse in the Kaepernick trade talks.

As of March 29th there seems to have been no need for the Broncos to get aggressive over trading for Kaepernick and as a Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk pointed out yesterday, the San Francisco 49ers are stuck with Kaepernick's contract especially if they cut him.

Article 44 of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, which sets forth the procedure for an injury grievance, generally defines the term broadly to encompass any situation in which a player contract is terminated at a time when the player "was physically unable to perform the services required of him by that contract because of an injury incurred in the performance of his services under that contract."

That, summed up would mean that San Francisco would need Kaepernick to pass a physical before April 1st in order to even cut him without owing him $11.9-million.

Meanwhile, Denver can get through the draft and then make a decision on Kaepernick, make the same offer and San Francisco would likely be more inclined to take at that point.

Hand it to the 49ers for sticking to their guns and not giving up Kaepernick for less than they felt that he was worth, I guess.