Gotta love the NFL, where the news cycle just keeps spinning.
Here we were on the second day of March, listening to Sports Illustrated's Peter King tell "Mike and Mike" he believes the Steelers are interested in Darrelle Revis.
"(They're) going to at least investigate him hard about trying cornerback one more year," King said.
Next up was the NFL Network's Aditi Kinkhabwala, who tweeted this little bombshell: "Told (hashtag)Steelers are heavy into negotiations w/ RB Le'Veon Bell on long term deal. Very good chance they set the market for RBs w/ this one."
Let me address those two issues before we get to the matter at hand, which is a suddenly available Colin Kaepernick and how the Steelers would do themselves a favor by considering him as a backup for Ben Roethlisberger.
Bell, quite obviously, is an enormous talent coming off an incredible year. But the idea of handing out a market-setting, long-term extension to a player who has yet to start and finish the same season in his four-year career, who has not finished any of the past three seasons, who has been suspended for multiple games at the beginning of each of the past two seasons, who is currently considering groin surgery and who is still under team control for two more years seems profoundly insane.
As for Revis, why wouldn't you kick the tires? The Steelers still have trouble tracking eligible receivers, especially Tom Brady's. King said he's hearing Revis loathes the idea of leaving the game on such a sour note _ his embarrassing 2016 season with the Jets.
The basic question here: Can Revis still run? He looked slow last season. If he's in shape and comes cheap, put him at corner and see what he can do (just don't send him and Joey Porter on any South Side excursions).
Meanwhile, well-known (and well-worn) receivers might become available, and if I'm choosing between, say, Mike Wallace and Anquan Boldin, I'm going with the latter on account of his still-reliable ability to make combat catches and score touchdowns.
But let's get to Kaepernick, because he's the sensational story and because the Steelers could use an upgrade behind Ben. This is pertinent because Roethlisberger is 35 and has been injured a bit in recent years, notably 2015 when he made a career-low 11 starts. He also has been hinting at retirement, not that I see Kaepernick as the heir apparent, by any means. Just a high-quality backup.
Kaepernick wants to start somewhere. I'm not sure he finds a taker. Many teams will see him as unqualified to start. Others will consider him radioactive on account of his anthem protests. It turns out he will now stand for the anthem _ amazing how that decision coincided with him opting out of his contract _ but the relevant point here is that he's only 29 and can still play.
There is really no comparison between Jones, also a free agent, and Kaepernick. The latter has taken a team to the Super Bowl (the 49ers five years ago) and is coming off a season in which he had 16 touchdown passes, only four interceptions and a 90.7 passer rating despite a less-than-stellar cast in San Francisco. He also had 468 yards rushing and a 6.8-yard average.
Jones isn't terrible. He made two starts this season. One was against New England, and he played OK. The other was against Cleveland, so it doesn't count. He has been adequate at times. He's simply the lesser quarterback in this equation.
Obviously, signing Kaepernick wouldn't be popular. So what? The Steelers brought in Mike Vick two years ago, and nobody seemed to mind when he engineered those late drives in San Diego.
As for the anthem flap, it turned out multiple NFL players protested during the anthem last season. Are you going to shun all of them? For what? Peacefully following the dictates of their own consciences?
The other objection I kept hearing Thursday was this: You can't have Kaepernick in the same locker room as Alejandro Villanueva, a decorated Army veteran.
I disagree. Knowing what I know of Villanueva and Kaepernick, my guess is they'd sit down and have productive conversations and perhaps even provide an example of how people who disagree on certain issues can hear each other out and work together. Does that happen anywhere anymore?
Maybe signing Kaepernick is highly unlikely. The Steelers would have to bide their time for a bargain rate. Maybe a bunch of people detest the very idea of this. That's OK.
The Steelers' mission is to win football games, and Colin Kaepernick would give them a better chance than Landry Jones.
