Pete Carroll's explanations for not signing Colin Kaepernick still don't make much sense
Pete Carroll can praise Colin Kaepernick all he wants, but his Seattle Seahawks are a big reason Kaepernick is still out of the NFL.
The Seahawks twice contacted Kaepernick. They worked him out once, in 2017. There’s dispute about what happened in 2018, and on Thursday Carroll said a report about the team asking Kaepernick about kneeling during the national anthem was incorrect. Either way, the Seahawks didn’t sign him and nobody else has either.
Carroll continues to say that Kaepernick was too good for the Seahawks to sign him, if you want to believe that.
Pete Carroll’s explanation for not signing Colin Kaepernick
Carroll previously stated that the Seahawks passed on Kaepernick in 2017 because Kaepernick was a starting-caliber quarterback and the Seahawks already had a starter in Russell Wilson. So the team instead signed Austin Davis.
The coach who is constantly preaching about competition every day claims that at the most important position in the game, the Seahawks decided to sign a worse player in Davis because Kaepernick was too good to be a backup.
Carroll doubled down on that explanation Thursday, and explained that they won’t be looking at Kaepernick now because they have Geno Smith.
More Pete Carroll on Kaepernick:
Carroll glowing about the official meeting/workout the Seahawks had with Kaepernick.
"It was so obvious that he's a starter in the NFL."— Joe Fann (@Joe_Fann) June 11, 2020
Pete Carroll on potentially having Kap be the #Seahawks backup QB:
"I love our set-up right now."
Carroll is in on Geno Smith. He says that might change if Russell Wilson got hurt.
He added:
"He deserves to be playing."— Joe Fann (@Joe_Fann) June 11, 2020
Summarizing Pete Carroll's comments on Colin Kaepernick:
Outside of his tremendous respect for Kap, he didn't see Kap as a football fit back then (thought Kap should be a starter) and still doesn't see Kap as a football fit now (wants to roll with Geno Smith).— Joe Fann (@Joe_Fann) June 11, 2020
Carroll expanded on the issue and said he felt regret that the team didn’t sign Kaepernick in 2017, and indicated a team called him today to talk about the exiled QB.
Pete Carroll said he regrets that the Seahawks weren't the team to sign Colin Kaepernick in 2017. Kap visited and Carroll said the Seahawks didn't feel it was the right fit because they felt he was a starter, and he said he was certain Kap would be starting somewhere that season.
— Brady Henderson (@BradyHenderson) June 11, 2020
Carroll said that before today, he hadn't gotten a call from any other team asking about Kaepernick and the Seahawks' experience with him. He wouldn't say who called today, but it left Carroll with the impression that at least one team is interested in Kaepernick.
— Brady Henderson (@BradyHenderson) June 11, 2020
Carroll denies a 2018 report about Kaepernick
Carroll also flatly denied a 2018 report from ESPN’s Adam Schefter, one of the most visible reporters in the business. A scheduled meeting with Kaepernick was called off and Schefter reported that “Seattle postponed the trip when the quarterback declined to stop kneeling during the national anthem next season.” Carroll said that was not true.
Pete Carroll said in regards to 2018 meeting with Colin Kaepernick that fell apart that the topic of Kaepernick kneeling didn't come up in conversation. Said it wasn't an issue and those reports were not true.
— Curtis Crabtree (@Curtis_Crabtree) June 11, 2020
Carroll, asked a followup on his statement that team never asked Kaepernick about kneeling in 2018, says again that never came up. "That went out like that was the issue. That was never the issue... That was a media-driven thing so I don’t know where that came from.''
— Bob Condotta (@bcondotta) June 11, 2020
It’s great for Carroll to be saying nice things about Kaepernick, whose exclusion from the NFL since 2016 will not age well in the league’s history book. Kaepernick was better than dozens of quarterbacks signed since then — including ones signed by the Seahawks — but was kept out after his peaceful protests during the anthem in 2016.
Seattle could have changed that. Instead of looking at it as an opportunity to add a starting-caliber player via free agency to make the best 53-man roster possible, the Seahawks — built around Carroll’s “always compete” mantra — passed because they didn’t think it would be wise to have a backup quarterback who is good enough to be a starter. Read that again and decide for yourself if you’re buying what Carroll is selling.
For now this is what is on the record: Carroll thinks it was obvious Kaepernick was an NFL starter, that he deserves to be playing now, but the Seahawks passed because they preferred Austin Davis then and Geno Smith now, and Kaepernick still can’t get a chance.
That doesn’t add up.
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