Colin Kaepernick’s case that the NFL’s owners are colluding against him can move forward.
Today arbitrator Stephen Burbank announced his ruling that the case will not be dismissed, as the NFL had requested.
“On August 28, 2018, the System Arbitrator denied the NFL’s request that he dismiss Colin Kaepernick’s complaint alleging that his inability to secure a player contract since becoming a free agent in March 2017 has been due to an agreement among team owners and the NFL that violates Article 17, Section 1 of the collective bargaining agreement between the NFL and the NFLPA,” Burbank’s statement said.
A source tells PFT that further discovery is expected, meaning Kaepernick and his attorney Mark Geragos will have more opportunities to gather information about any dealings inside the league that left to Kaepernick being kept out. And the case now appears set to move toward a hearing where NFL owners will be forced to testify about what they’ve directed their teams’ personnel departments to do with Kaepernick.
Although Burbank’s ruling applied only to Kaepernick and not to his former teammate Eric Reid, who is also alleging the owners have colluded to keep him out, it’s good news for both players and bad news for the league, which was hoping it could put Kaepernick’s case behind it.