With the 2016 NFL season schedule getting all warmed up, you can be sure that there will be plenty of trade rumors flying left and right. Teams will be getting new faces, and players make adjustments to their new environment and perhaps even state. San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick and Cleveland Browns offensive tackle Joe Thomas are two names that have been floating around, and things do seem to be heating up for them.
Colin Kaepernick is as reliable as a quarterback can be where a backup is concerned, so the team that is looking for strength in depth might want to see just what Kaepernick still has left in his tank. A Sportsrageous report claims that the San Francisco 49ers and Colin Kaepernick have come to an agreement in terms of restructuring his contract. In other words, there would be less tangled webs to weave through in trading him, and should this be true, then the $100 million quarterback might be worth checking out by other teams in the NFL.
In the recently restructured deal, it is said that Kaepernick will have the chance to be an unrestricted free agent once the 2016-17 season comes to a close. If that bit of information ends up as true, then chances are Kaepernick would be plying his trade in a new team next season, but the million dollar question that remains is, where?
He is not short on suitors either, as the likes of the Indianapolis Colts, Seattle Seahawks, Cleveland Browns, New Orleans Saints, and Los Angeles Rams do happen to be some of the notable franchises that have been bandied about. However, with so much different information flying around, we should take stock of the situation and apply some logic to it. Basically, it would be the Los Angeles Rams or the Cleveland Browns that would make perfect sense as to where Kaepernick’s career is at the moment. He does have the physical ability to continue racking up the points on the NFL’s scoreboard, and the hunger to be a starter remains.
As for the Cleveland Browns’ Joe Thomas, this star left-tackle is never too far away whenever the subject of trade rumors pop up. After all, Thomas is an amazing player, and he certainly is one of the best players as a left-tackle. Many would say that the Cleveland Browns is not the team for him, and he should be aiming for greener pastures elsewhere. However, loyalty can be a very strange thing indeed, where a NESN report points that Thomas will most probably start with the Browns next season. In fact, ESPN’s Pat McManamon claims that a little bird out there has chirped that Thomas will not request for a trade out of Cleveland.
Should the situation be otherwise, however, the Detroit Lions and Carolina Panthers would probably come knocking on his door. Despite entering a decade of game time in his NFL career, Thomas has managed to compete at the highest levels consistently. As with all rumors, we will simply need to play the patience card where these two star players are concerned.
