Colin Kaepernick worked out for the Raiders on Wednesday, the first private workout he has had for an NFL team since becoming a free agent in March 2017.
Jeremy Fowler of ESPN reports the “workout was largely considered a positive.”
During his media session Thursday, Raiders coach Josh McDaniels wouldn’t talk about Kaepernick’s workout.
“We will only talk about the people that are on our team,” McDaniels said Thursday. “Dave (Ziegler) and his staff have worked out tons of guys this spring. We really don’t make comments about the evaluations that we made or what they looked like, what they didn’t look like, strengths and weaknesses, those kinds of thing. They are obviously kind of private for us as we look at things to try to make decisions to make the team better. If players are added to the team, then obviously we’ll talk about them at that point.
“I respect the question 100 percent. I understand, but that’s kind of what we’ll stick to.”
The Raiders have Derek Carr, Nick Mullens, Jarrett Stidham and Chase Garbers on the roster at the position, but they obviously are intrigued by Kaepernick and perhaps seeking competition behind Carr.
“We’re encouraging the competition right now,” McDaniels said. “I think our football understands that competition is the way for each player to improve.”
Kaepernick last played in 2016. The 49ers cut him in March 2017, and other than a visit with the Seahawks five years ago, no other team had expressed any interest in Kaepernick until this week.
“We brought in tons of people for workouts,” McDaniels said. “If there’s an opportunity to improve the team, we said it from Day 1 that we would look at every opportunity. He’s not the first player that we’ve looked at and not the last one. There are going to be a lot of people who are going to come in and out of this building and have an opportunity to make an impression.”
Two other teams had interest in Kaepernick before his workout with the Raiders, so if they don’t offer him a contract, maybe the Raiders’ workout opens the door for another team to give him a chance.