Raiders coach Jon Gruden may know something the rest of us don’t.
Or maybe he was just rambling.
While no one has made a move to sign quarterback Colin Kaepernick, Gruden invoked a number of unemployed quarterbacks when asked about the former 49ers starter.
“I think there’s a lot of intrigue there,” Gruden said, via Paul Gutierrez of ESPN.com. “His performance on the field wasn’t very good, on tape. I think, Robert Griffin, a rookie of the year, surprised he’s out there. Tim Tebow, takes a team to the playoffs, there’s some surprise that he never came back. You know, Johnny Manziel, he’s out there.
“Back to Kaepernick, you know he got beat out by [Blaine] Gabbert, to start the [2016] season. I think that says something. [But] I am surprised he’s not in camp with somebody. He probably will be soon.”
Considering the claim of collusion, that doesn’t seem particularly likely, but Gruden’s explanation does have a few other threw holes. Basing an evaluation of Kaepernick on 2016 without the context that he was coming off surgery during the offseason and had lost a lot of weight seems thin.
Despite that, he reclaimed the starting job from Gabbert after five games, and threw 16 touchdowns and just four interceptions while posting a 90.7 passer rating for a team that lacked offensive talent.
So while Gruden’s train of thought seemed to derail, the notion that even he thinks Kaepernick should be in a camp underscores what’s happening here.