In mid-February, quarterback Colin Kaepernick and Eric Reid settled their collusion grievances with the NFL, based on the supposition that the league had curtailed their professional opportunities based on their protests. Kaepernick’s preference for kneeling during the national anthem before games turned a lot of people in the NFL off, and despite his clear ability, he hadn’t been signed by a team since he and the 49ers parted ways after the 2016 season.
At the time of the settlement, speculation was that between them, Kaepernick and Reed may have received an amount in the tens of millions of dollars. But according to Andrew Beaton of the Wall Street Journal, who received this information from people briefed on the case, the two players may have received less than $10 million total. If that’s true, and when you take out legal fees, it’s hardly fair compensation for a quarterback able to start in the NFL.
Kaepernick earned over $43 million in his six-year NFL career, and over $12 million in 2016 alone. So, if he and his legal team accepted that amount instead of taking the case to arbitration, one wonders just how strong the case really was in the eyes of said legal team.
Collusion is hard to prove under the best of circumstances, and while Kaepernick had a solid case based on the merits of the quarterbacks who were signed in his absence throughout the league, he would also have to prove that there was a concerted effort by people around the NFL to deny him the ability to play based solely on non-football factors
Reid, on the other hand, was signed by the Panthers in September, 2018 and subsequently re-signed to a three-year deal, eventually found employment. This may have weakened the case against the league, leaving Kaepernick as the last man standing.
As was true with the joined concussion settlements, the NFL may have gotten off with a relative slap on the wrist from a financial perspective (and certainly from a disclosure perspective).
