Philadelphia Eagles: We need to talk about Colin Kaepernick

After watching Nate Sudfeld suffer an ugly injury to his non-throwing arm, the Philadelphia Eagles need to have a long, hard talk about Colin Kaepernick.
When Nate Sudfeld went down with a left arm injury and was carted off the field shortly before halftime in an inflatable arm cast, it (potentially) spelled disaster for the Philadelphia Eagles and their backup quarterback situation.
Sure, things could ultimately be fine for the second-round tendered quarterback out of Indiana, and he could return later this preseason, or in time for the regular-season opener on September 8th, but it seems just as likely that Sudfeld could be out with a broken wrist for 6-8 weeks, leaving Philly with the less than thrilling pairing of Cody Kessler and Clayton Thorson to serve as Carson Wentz‘s backup against the Washington Redskins.
Needless to say, the Birds’ decision to keep their backup QB search in-house when it became apparent Nick Foles was not coming back in 2019 already looks like a disaster.
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With the regular season 30 days away (as of the time of publication) and free agency now over five months old, there really aren’t many quarterbacks on the open market with experience who could come in and spell Wentz if he were to suffer another long-term injury.
Well, there is one, but he’s maybe the most controversial player in NFL history.
A second-round pick out of Nevada, Colin Kaepernick spent the first year and a half of his professional football career as a backup for Alex Smith with the San Francisco 49ers before taking the league by storm as an ultra-dynamic dual-threat quarterback.
Over the course of a season-and-a-half period from 2012-13, Kaep led Jim Harbaugh‘s squad to a 21-8 record and two straight postseason runs – losing to the Baltimore Ravens in Super Bowl XLVII in 2012, and to the Seattle Seahawks in the NFC Conference Finals game in 2013.
Though Harbaugh’s tenure and his team’s championship window in the Bay ended with a whimper as opposed to a roar, Kaepernick still played fairly well for Jim Tomsula and Chip Kelly, completing 59 percent of his passes for 3,856 yards and 22 touchdowns versus only nine interceptions.
From there, Kaep opted out of the final year of his contract and has remained unsigned ever since.
Now sure, Kaepernick hasn’t exactly been out of the league because he can’t play quarterback, but let’s not talk about that right now.
Would things be a whole lot cleaner if the Birds could convince a player like Josh McCown to come out of retirement to serve as Wentz’s backup, or try to trade for a player like Colt McCoy, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Brian Hoyer, or Ryan Tannehill (who looked pretty good against Philly) to serve as a backup this fall? Sure, but those options are all longshots that wouldn’t make the team that much better in relation to taking a chance with Kaepernick at QB2.
As recently as August 8th (coincidently the same date as the Eagles’ first preseason game) Kaepernick was a topic on ESPN’s First Take after posting a workout video denoting a presumed desire to continue on with his football career now that his grievance with the league has been settled.
I mean Eric Reid has already signed a new contract and played so well on it that he earned another new, three-year contract with the Carolina Panthers, so it’s not like signing a player who protested two seasons ago hasn’t been successful.
While signing Kaepernick would certainly bring a circus of media coverage to the City of Brotherly Love the likes of which the team hasn’t seen since Tim Tebow joined the club under the watchful eye of Chip Kelly – albeit a much more polarizing, potentially offensive circus – the Eagles have already proven themselves to be one of the most progressive teams in the league, who are owned by one of the most progressive owners in the league, with one of the most progressive leaders in the locker room in Malcolm Jenkins.
Much like how Andy Reid took a chance on Michael Vick after his own very different off the field issues, Doug Pederson could be the coach who returns Kaepernick to his former glory.
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So should the Philadelphia Eagles sign Colin Kaepernick to serve as their backup quarterback? That is between Pederson, Howie Roseman, and Jeffrey Lurie, but if Nate Sudfeld is going to miss an extended period of time with a left arm injury, the Philadelphia Eagles at the very least have to seriously consider the possibility of signing Colin Kaepernick to remain competitive should Carson Wentz finish out a third-straight season on IR.