Colin Kaepernick has remained mostly silent this offseason, publicly avoiding discussions about his wishes.
Niners fans concerned about who will play quarterback in 2016 have no way of knowing if Kaepernick would like to stay in San Francisco. Until he does – and until he and the team make some type of joint announcement about what will happen with No. 7 – stories about his status for 2016 will continue to hover over the 49ers.
The latest report surfaced Thursday, when ESPN’s Adam Schefter said on “SportsCenter” that a source has told him it’s 75 percent probable that Kaepernick remains on the team for 2016.
“He’s been going through the offeason program this week, in meetings with (head coach) Chip Kelly and my understanding is, in the words of one person close to that situation, it’s 75-25 he’s going to be with San Francisco this season," Schefter said. "Once you get the offseason program rolling, and he sees how that offense could use his particular strengths and abilities, he’s going to be even more open to returning to San Francisco.”
Schefter said, of course, that “anything could happen” around the draft, with a deal made to send him elsewhere, but he said for right now, Kaepernick will most likely stay put.
Meanwhile, many of the quarterback's teammates said this week they don’t view Kaepernick’s will-he-stay-or-will-he-go situation as something that’s a negative during this early phase of the offseason program.
“When the season rolls around, I think it will be a distraction,” said linebacker NaVorro Bowman, according to Paul Gutierrez of ESPN.com. “But right now, guys are focused on what we have to do. I’m sure upstairs (the front office) and Colin are trying to get everything right.”
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Running back Carlos Hyde, too, says it’s no big deal that nobody knows what will happen to Kaepernick.
“He’s part of the team right now,” Hyde told Gutierrez and other Bay Area beat reporters. “He’s in there every day. He’s in the big room with us. We treat him like he’s our teammate, which he is, so we don’t treat him any differently.”
That may be true, but it’s likely the speculation about Kaepernick’s immediate future will continue through the draft, which is scheduled for April 28 through April 30.
