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Anthony Lynn says Colin Kaepernick is on Chargers' workout list

Just two days after NFL commissioner Roger Goodell publicly encouraged teams to sign former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, one team has taken a small step in that direction.

Los Angeles Chargers head coach Anthony Lynn told reporters on Wednesday that Kaepernick “definitely fits the style of quarterback for the system we’re going to be running," and has been put on the team’s workout list.

When Lynn said that Kaepernick had been put on the list, that’s pretty much all he meant. He clarified that the team has no plans to bring Kaepernick in for a workout right now.

Lynn said that he hasn’t been in contact with Kaepernick, and that he’s still satisfied with Tyrod Taylor, Justin Herbert and Easton Stick, the Chargers’ three quarterbacks.

“I’m very confident and happy with the three quarterbacks that I have but you can never have too many people waiting on the runway," Lynn said via ESPN’s Lindsey Thiry.

Kaepernick, who in 2016 was the first NFL player to kneel during the national anthem to protest systemic racism and police brutality, hasn’t played in the NFL since the end of the 2016 season. He failed to find a starting job after opting out of his contract, and was essentially unofficially blackballed from the NFL for his decision to protest. George Floyd’s murder in police custody three weeks ago have led to a public reconsideration of Kaepernick’s protest, and pressure for NFL teams to give him the chance he was denied three years ago.

One NFL team is inching its way toward giving Colin Kaepernick a chance to get back into the league. (Photo by Austin McAfee/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
One NFL team is inching its way toward giving Colin Kaepernick a chance to get back into the league. (Photo by Austin McAfee/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

The Chargers’ decision to consider Kaepernick (at least on paper) stands in stark contrast to how they treated former Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton. Newton, the 2015 NFL MVP, was passed over by the Chargers, and Lynn’s explanation for that is pretty unsatisfying: “I feel really good about the quarterback room that I have.”

So let’s get this straight: Lynn’s QB room is apparently good enough to allow the team to pass over Newton, a former MVP who’s had two injury plagued seasons, but not so good that it couldn’t be improved by Kaepernick, who hasn’t played in an NFL game in three years. Is anyone else confused? Maybe the next time Lynn speaks to the media, he can clarify why only one quarterback was worth a chance while the other wasn’t.

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