Quarterback Colin Kaepernick is willing to restructure his contract and take a pay cut to escape the San Francisco 49ers, but he’s not willing to take as drastic a pay cut as the Browns have proposed partly because he’s not impressed with their approach to free agency.
That’s the picture the Sacramento Bee painted Saturday.
The Bee reported it’s one of the reasons a trade for Kaepernick hasn’t panned out yet.
The Browns are indeed in the Kaepernick sweepstakes. The Denver Broncos are reportedly his other main suitor, and the New York Jets are lurking in the background.
Although Kaepernick likes new Browns coach Hue Jackson, the Bee reported the team has become less appealing to him in recent days because of its key losses in free agency.
After all, the Browns lost 40 percent of their starting offensive line Wednesday with the departures of three-time Pro Bowl center Alex Mack and right tackle Mitchell Schwartz. They also lost starting wide receiver Travis Benjamin, identified recently by new associate head coach-offense Pep Hamilton as one of the offense’s top playmakers.
The Browns have offered the 49ers their third-round pick (No. 65 overall) in this year’s draft for Kaepernick, according to the report, but they want to restructure his deal first. Therein lies the problem. In 2014, Kaepernick signed a six-year, $114 contract extension, which includes $61 million guaranteed.
The Bee reported Kaepernick is wary of taking a lower-money contract on a bad team and one that might use the second overall pick April 28 on a quarterback.
If the Super Bowl champion Denver Broncos approached Kaepernick with the same contract the Browns have offered him, he’d likely sign it without hesitation, according to the report.
The Broncos, though, haven’t satisfied the 49ers with their trade offer to the extent the Browns have. According to the report, they are believed to have pitched giving up their third-round pick (No. 94 overall), which is 29 spots lower than the Browns’ selection in the same round.
The 49ers are likely eyeing the Broncos’ second-round choice (No. 63 overall), which is two spots higher than the third-round selection the Browns have offered.
Meanwhile, the 49ers could hang onto Kaepernick despite his agents requesting a trade. They have repeatedly insisted they’re willing to keep him beyond April 1, when his $11.9 million base salary for 2016 would become guaranteed.
Nate Ulrich can be reached at nulrich@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Browns blog at www.ohio.com/browns. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/NateUlrichABJ and on Facebook www.facebook.com/abj.sports.