INDIANAPOLIS _ Colin Kaepernick opted out of his contract on Friday, leaving the 49ers with no quarterbacks signed for 2017 and with even more salary-cap space to make roster moves this offseason.
According the league's player's union, the 49ers had nearly $77 million in cap space to begin the week, second only the Cleveland Browns' nearly $104 million cushion. Kaepernick's departure adds another $14.5 million to San Francisco's cap space.
Kaepernick, meanwhile, will become a free agent on Thursday, the first time in his six-year career he has not been with the 49ers.
Both general manager John Lynch and coach Kyle Shanahan said this week there's a chance they could sign Kaepernick to a more modest deal at some point during the free-agency period. The team will have to add four passers for their offseason practices, and the 49ers have been linked to just about every quarterback available.
On Friday, for instance, the NFL Network reported a possible three-way trade among the 49ers, Cowboys and Washington that would send Washington quarterback Kirk Cousins to the 49ers, Dallas quarterback Tony Romo to Washington and deal draft picks to the Cowboys.
A league source said there was nothing "solid" to the deal yet and that the transaction was merely at the rumor stage right now.
Lynch and Shanahan, meanwhile, continue to meet with all the top quarterback prospects at the combine. They interviewed Notre Dame's DeShone Kizer Wednesday and had similar sessions with Clemson's DeShaun Watson, North Carolina's Mitch Trubisky and Texas Tech's Patrick Mahomes on Friday. Those quarterbacks will throw and work out in front of NFL teams on Saturday.
"We don't have any," Lynch said of quarterbacks. "And so, that's a position that's a big focal point of our preparation right now, and this week's a big part of that."
